Carabao Cup Preview: West Ham vs. Fulham

If it wasn’t for João Palhinha, West Ham would still be sitting in the Premier League. As it stands, however, the Brazilian’s lone goal on the final matchday of last season condemned West Ham down into the grind of the Championship. But on Tuesday, West Ham faithful can pretend they’re back in the top flight when they host Fulham for a Carabao Cup third round contest.

Not a David vs. Goliath Scenario

Certainly the contest is one of equals, or near-equals. Although in different divisions, they’re separated by only four places.

West Ham sit atop the Championship with 14 points after seven matches, alongside Swansea and West Brom. Head coach Nuno Espíritu Santo, who stayed on after relegation, has done this in spite of two hurdles. The first was around personnel. The club sold midfielder Mateus Fernandes and left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf, and parted ways with Jean-Clair Todibo, Adama Traoré, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Niclas Füllkrug and Callum Wilson. The second hurdle was a poor start to the campaign, in which they earned two draws and a loss. But in the month of September, the Hammers have lived up to their moniker, scoring a whopping 16 goals in league (with 20 overall). At this scoring pace, they could shatter the league record 101 goals scored, which was set by none other than Fulham in 2021/22.

Fulham’s Struggles

Fulham, meanwhile, are wallowing in the relegation zone in 18th place with only one point after four matches. For only the third time in the club’s history, they started a Premier League campaign with three straight losses. The other two times that occurred, the club was relegated. You better believe their supporters would take a fraction of the attacking prowess from the 21/22 side to give them a boost right now.

Fulham head coach Alvaro Arbaloa in a press conference emphasized that West Ham “are not a Championship team” and that he’s treating this fixture like a Premier League contest. It’s both a realistic and appropriate perspective. Arbaloa added: “They are a difficult team with top players. Even some of them have Premier League level [experience]. If we want to beat them, we need to perform so well.”

The Hooligan Take

Indeed, history is not Fulham’s side in this one. The two teams have met 21 times before; West Ham has won more than half the contests (12). Seven of the last ten matches at London Stadium ended with West Ham victories, with one draw. West Ham are the most prolific Carabao Cup attacking team, with seven goals scored over the first two rounds.

If there’s any silver lining for Fulham, it’s that Joël Veltman and Tomás Souček, both PL veterans, are out with injury for West Ham. Arbolado will have his pick of the usual crew as only Tom Cairney is ruled out due to his knee injury. Expect to see Joshua King, who has impressed so far in his performances with his pace, creativity and effort, and Gonzalo García, newly arrived from Real Madrid, in the starting XI.

Ultimately, Fulham won’t be able to contain a West Ham team riding on so much adrenal and momentum. The Cottagers defense might be able to dull West Ham’s edge, but it won’t prevent a critical blows from striking.

The Tale of the Tape. Source: FotMob

West Ham 3 – 1 Fulham