West Ham: Areola, Walker Peters, Todibo, Kilman, Scarles, Irving, Fernandes, Paqueta, Soucek, Summerville, Bowen
Subs: Hermansen, Wilson, Diouf, Mavropanos, Rodriguez, Magassa, Wan Bissaka, Potts, Marshall
Brentford: Kelleher; Kayode, Collins, Van den Berg, Ajer; Henderson, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard; Ouattara, Thiago, Schade.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Henry, Pinnock, Jensen, Nelson, Carvalho, Onyeka, Lewis-Potter, Janelt.
Nuno Espirito Santo is set to take place in charge of his first home West Ham fixture on Monday, the 20th October, in what is set to be a boycott against Brentford. This inevitable boycott has been suspected to happen for a very long time, and it’s rather unfortunate timing for Nuno, seeing as he needs all the support that he can currently get.
However, once he was asked about the boycott, he said: "I hope all our fans could join us and help us facing Brentford.."
"We as a group we as a squad and group we ignore try to ignore focus on the tasks..."
The fixture against Brentford is already appearing as a ‘six-pointer’. The Bees currently sit 16th in the league with 7 points, in comparison to the Hammers, who currently sit 19th with 4 points.
A victory for West Ham would only see Nuno’s side go to 18th, but we would be on the same points as Brentford themselves, only not above them due to the tragic goal difference that we’ve accumulated so far throughout the season, conceding 16 goals in this campaign already.
As well as both sides being rather close in the Premier League table, both are currently on similar levels of form, as the pair have one win in the last five.
Brentford: 1 Win - 2 Draw - 3 Losses | West Ham: 1 Win - 1 Draw - 3 Losses
Overlooking the form that both teams have shown, injury news provides concerns for both sides as Keith Andrew’s side is doubtful of three players, those of whom are Aaron Hickey, Gustavo Gomes and Antoni Milambo.
Antoni Milambo suffered a more serious injury, that being an ACL, during the international break.
Similar to Brentford, just not as unfortunate, West Ham also suffered an injury during the international break which has subsequently led to Nicholas Fullkrug being out for an unknown period of time.
As well as the Kraut not being available, the likes of George Earthy and Jean-Clair Todibo also will not participate against the Bees, with Earthy unfortunately accumulating a further setback in training and Todibo still not in the tip-top condition he’s required to be in.
Yet in light of the injuries, Tomas Soucek for West Ham is available for the first time under Nuno, after his three-game suspension has concluded.
West Ham’s record against Brentford previously is a cause for concern, as it seems the West London side have slowly become our bogey team across the last five seasons as the Hammers have only beaten Brentford once in the Premier League, and that was a 4-2 victory at home on February 26th 2024, which saw Jarred score his hat-trick.
Brentford, on the other hand, have won 6 against West Ham in the Premier League, but if this season is anything to go by, history won’t mean anything, considering West Ham have already lost their previous ‘winning’ records against Arsenal, Spurs and Crystal Palace this season, so all is to play for come Monday night.
It is expected to be a wet, gloomy, miserable night under the floodlights as the Hammers will hunt for their second win of the campaign, whilst also looking to achieve their first points against a London side, in which we’ve failed three times already.
Let’s hope that our fortune isn’t hiding come tomorrow night.
I bet Nuno is pleased he's out of there ,what a shit hole of a club ,not saying they should have not sacked Post but that owner??? ,he makes Sullivan look like St Peter
Over the last season, it's been discussed amongst Hammers fans which is more of an underlying issue, whether it is the defence that needs more work than the attack. Or is it Vice-Verca?
The Hammers have conceded over 16 goals in the space of just 7 matches, totalling an average of 2.28 goals per game. To compare it to Sheffield United, who currently hold the worst record with 104 Goals conceded in a Premier League season, they averaged 2.73 goals per game.
In addition to the damning goals conceded stat, the Hammers have only shipped in a total of 6 Premier League goals this season, putting us just one above last placed Wolves [5]
Anyway, let’s not get bogged down with who put us in this position and how we so dreadfully ended up here.
Nuno’s culture at the club so far has been to get invested in everything the club participates in, making himself liked off the pitch, but on the pitch, it is always a more difficult task.
But, most recently, he’s exclaimed what the biggest ongoing issue is regarding the defence and the attack, putting the debate to bed.
“The team’s offence is not our priority at this time.”
“It’s no use increasing the number of goals scored if we do not radically reduce the goals conceded. We have a serious problem in dead-ball situations. The team concedes many goals and loses many first contacts.”
His play style goes hand in hand with his comments, and Nuno’s men can only hope to improve under new management, as well as in the series of upcoming games.
The Hammers are set to face Brentford at home on Monday Night’s Boycott, Leeds away, followed by two home fixtures against Newcastle and Burnley.
The real question lies within Nuno’s comments and asks the question, We’ve identified the problem, now what are we going to do to rectify it?
Upon recent news of Nichlas Fullkrug receiving his now 3rd injury in the International break, it has sparked a debate amongst the club and how it is likely that the Hammers will look to sign another forward in January, seeing as we're currently down to just the Callums.
Nuno Espirito Santo has spoken to the club and said he'd like to look for a striker who is young and also hungry, which could become a prospect as time passes, a breath of fresh air for the West Ham fans seeing as all have relentlessly pressed the club about the targets we ultimately acquire instead of being after a rathe individual which we so desperately need.
Nuno had already fallen out of favour with Fullkrug, and throughout the Arsenal game, he was fairly replaced by Callum Marshall who made his debut for the club. Callum Wilson also doesn't appear to be in high favour of the Portuguese manager, which has been shown twice through his dismissal to use a player of his calibre, seeing as he typically prefers a bigger target forward. Though Marshall doesn't fit that description, Nuno made it known that his work ethic shown in training and throughout his arrival is what warranted his appearance.
The Hammers have recently linked themselves towards Ivan Toney, who has been said to be 'highly interested' in a move back to England, seeing as he's attempting to bolster his 2026 World Cup hopes and coming back to the Premier League would be his best way to achieve that in Tuchel's eyes.
Numerous clubs have declared interest in the Englishman, but a transfer could be difficult, seeing as most clubs either can't afford him or perhaps more simply, the managers aren't as interested as it doesn't fit their style of player, or that they've already got what they need.
Any deal that the Hammers have previously attempted with Saudi Arabia hasn't gone well, and usually, it's a difficulty due to the taxes that the players face once returning to England.
Since the longing international break has occurred, Nuno has taken it upon himself to take charge in a pre-return friendly in which the Hammers suffered a defeat against Ipswich.
Whilst the scoreline isn’t publicly known, it was understood that it wasn’t a pretty scoreline or how the team played.
Nuno’s investigation decided to test the waters with a 3-4-3 formation, in which Igor-piggle lined up alongside Jean-Clair Todibo, and the final defender was one of the youth players.
JWP also featured in the fixture but who he was alongside was also unknown.
Hopefully, Nuno decided to test the prospect of a 3-4-3 formation in a friendly, and that’s the last the Hammers fans see of it this season. Graham Potter lost his job and ultimately put the squad in this position due to his stubbornness in change, and his eventual 4-2-3-1 formation he embodied was the only factor that led him to remain as long as it did.
Friendly’s typically result in managers attempting the unknown, but going off the pre-season that West Ham were subjected to, that can’t be said.
The likes of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Mavropanos, Diouf, Wan-Bissaka, Hermansen, Soucek and Marshall all couldn’t have played in the friendly, seeing as they’re on international break, so you have to question who would’ve even started?
Maybe Micky from TNT returned despite cutting ties recently, or perhaps the clubhouse of loans returned to haunt the Hammers.
Nuno’s squad woes have worsened throughout the international break as Germany coach, Julian Nagelsmann, has confirmed that Niclas Füllkrug has suffered a muscle bundle tear in his thigh.
It appears to be a broken record every international break seeing as the Kraut always gets injured every international break.
The 32-year-old suffered the injury in training and will now probably be out injured for several weeks
The first victim to succumb to an injury under Nuno was an expected one. Fool-crook has only been an overwhelming disappointment since his arrival at West Ham. His highly anticipated arrival brought light to breaking the striker curse, but as matches have passed, the Kraut has slowly dwindled into another fallen soldier.
His petrichor pre-season under Graham Potter also reignited fans’ hopes, but as the Premier League season started, it became apparent that the level he demonstrated in the summer didn’t correlate come August as his soporific performances caused early nights.
Nuno Espírito Santo is now left with the Callums to help him drag West Ham out of the relegation zone and into a comfortable position.
It is expected that Callum Marshall will be the primary striker after Nuno’s promising comments on the Northern Irish international, with a potential debut start occurring in just seven days’ time
Great interview. Venue may be familiar to some of us oldies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRJJrkGWU4o&t=11s
West Ham United have officially announced the backroom staff under Nuno Espirito Santo for his tenure at the club, with the Portuguese manager finalising his decision on the temporary staff given to him, and shockingly, he's taken on Mark Robson, Steve Potts, Gerard Prenderville and Billy Lepine.
Mark, Steve Gerrard will be a first-team coaches, whilst Billy will be the goalkeeping coach.
Upon the confirmation of a permanent position, Nuno commented: "I am very happy that Mark, Steve, Gerard and Billy have agreed to continue in their positions permanently. They are a great asset: people who, beyond their knowledge and effort, feel for West Ham United".
Utilising a group of people for their knowledge about the club and the ideas about upcoming youth prospects will all come into play for the Hammers.
There are two sides to the situation, Nuno's hand that he was dealt ultimately ended up being as successful as he imagined it, and their first impact was enough for them to gain a full-time position, or perhaps Sully informed Nuno that he won't be buying any of his staff, seeing as it's too expensive, and ultimately was forced to use the youth srtaff.
However, despite whichever situation is the truth, having the academy coaching staff is a new angle that West Ham have never completely utilised and seeing the staff confirmed brings in a fresh feeling and thought process as to what Nuno could be doing for the Hammers
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Premier League
West Ham vs Brentford
20:00
London Stadium
Monday 20th October 2025
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