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Fortunes always hiding

Conspiracy theorists might well conclude that West Ham are 'victims' of terrible League Cup draws, the Irons have NEVER won what is still known as the League Cup in most quarters and the likely hood of winning it briefly shone before being extinguished with news that the club's 1/4 final opponents will be none other than arch nemesis Liverpool, away!

West Ham: Fabiański ©, Coufal, Mavropanos, Aguerd, Emerson, Souček, Álvarez, Paquetá, Kudus, Benrahma, Bowen Subs: Areola (GK), Cresswell, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Ward-Prowse, Fornals, Cornet, Ings, Antonio
Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Kiwior, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Jorginho ©, Fabio Viera, Havertz, Nelson, Trossard, Nketiah Subs: Hein (GK), Saliba, Cédric Soares, Tomiyasu, Elneny, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli

You don't get to manage over 1,000 top flight professional football games without picking up at least some degree of nous, after all you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time can you?

Towards the end of Hammers embarrassing showing against one time relegation favourites Everton, Alphonse Areola collected the ball and then 'sprinted' towards the opposition. "Shoot" was the Cry from the crowd, and it was NOT ironic! Areola has a massively powerful kick in his repertoire which also includes being able to accurately throw the ball to the halfway line, IF he had taken a shot he could have caught Pickford off his line and quite possibly scored.

The 0-1 home defeat by Everton meant three losses on the spin, three woeful performances and another FOUR matches in quick succession that could ALL be potential Hammer Horror Shows and not the best of ways to start November, but it is probably more than apt for Halloween!

A young Hammers fan, a girl who was probably seven years old, bedecked in her newly acquired Betway shirt seemed to know a lot more than David Moyes appears to do by saying "don't pass it to Antonio" with only FIVE minutes gone in the game against Everton and she was right!

West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell, Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus, Antonio. Subs: Fabianski, Fornals, Mavropanos, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Kehrer, Soucek.

Everton: Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Garner, Doucoure, McNeil, Onana, Harrison, Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Virginia, Keane, Danjuma, Beto, Godfrey, Gueye, Chermiti, Hunt, Dobbin

Image Samuel Regan-Asante

Football, often referred to as a beautiful game, is a sport filled with passion, dedication, and history. Clubs rise and fall, players come and go, but the spirit of the game remains. For those looking to bet on your favorite sport, football, naturally, offers ample opportunities.

Was it complacency or sheer blindness that led David Moyes to select Danny Ings as a starter against Olympiacos? Whatever the reasoning for the 'cunning' plan was, it failed miserably! Why on earth Moyes didn't hook the out of sorts Ings at half time is beyond most fans comprehension.

Olympiacos:Paschalakis, Rodinei, Porozo, Retsos, Ortega, Alexandropoulous, Camara, Hezze, Podence, El Kaabi, Fortounis. (C) Subs: Tzolakis (GK), Papadoudis (GK), Scarpa, El-Arabi, Vrousai, Quini, Masouras, João Carvalho, Pep Biel, Jovetić, Solbakken

West Ham: Areola, Kehrer, Mavropanos, Ogbonna (C), Emerson, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Benrahma, Kudus, Fornals, Ings. Subs: Anang (GK), Cresswell, Johnson, Zouma, Aguerd, Alvarez, Cornet, Paqueta, Bowen, Antonio, Mubama

As he prepares to take his team into the anticipated Olympiacos cauldron, David Moyes took time to pay homage to Bill Kenwright.

"It’s incredibly sad news about Bill Kenwright. He was a wonderful man.

He gave me a big opportunity in my career. He took me when I was a young manager in a lower league and gave me a job in the Premier League. He was brilliantly supportive. I couldn’t have had a better Chairman as a young coach.