Lincoln City v West Ham United
EFL Championship
ProAmpac Stadium
Wednesday 14 October 2026, 8pm BST
Nuno Espírito Santo finds himself in a weird old position ahead of West Ham United’s trip to Lincoln City. Win on Wednesday night and the Hammers will almost certainly return to second place, leaving everybody wondering what all the complaining was about.
Lose, however, and the mood will change very quickly. Back-to-back draws against Millwall and QPR have already raised concerns about West Ham’s performances, even though we remain well placed in the Championship promotion race.
That is the strange reality facing Nuno. Victory would make the desperately poor display against QPR feel unimportant, but defeat to newly promoted Lincoln would bring the manager under pressure and prompt serious questions about our recent form.
Nuno can quieten concerns with a win against Lincoln
Nuno must respond to QPR performance
West Ham were atrocious against Queens Park Rangers but somehow came remarkably close to winning the game.
The first-half performance was abysmal. We lacked urgency, creativity and control, while QPR were able to frustrate West Ham without doing anything particularly extraordinary.
West Ham improved after the break and could have claimed all three points had Jarrod Bowen converted his late penalty. However, that should not disguise how poor we were for large parts of the match.
I believe Nuno should rotate his team against Lincoln, but not because his players are particularly fatigued. He should make changes because too many of them performed badly on Friday night.
There is little justification for simply selecting the same side and hoping for a different result.
Piroe deserves his opportunity
Many people credited Pablo Felipe with changing the game against QPR, and I certainly believe he had that impact during the previous draw at Millwall.
However, against Rangers it was Joël Piroe who provided West Ham with the real spark.
His introduction gave the Hammers a more intelligent presence around the penalty area. Piroe combined well with Taty Castellanos and helped create space for Bowen, who had been kept quiet for much of the evening.
Piroe was brought to West Ham because of his proven ability to score goals at Championship level. He deserves the opportunity to start at Lincoln rather than repeatedly being asked to rescue games from the bench.
If Nuno retains his preferred 4-4-2, I would be tempted to partner Piroe with Pablo. Lincoln are an incredibly physical team, and Pablo could provide the strength required to occupy their central defenders while Piroe operates around him.
However, my predicted team is Nuno’s side rather than the one I would necessarily select. I suspect he will partner Piroe with Castellanos.
Kante will come straight back into the squad
Kanté return gives Nuno another option
Mohamadou Kanté is available again after completing the suspension he received following his red card against Millwall.
His return could tempt Nuno to pack the midfield and move away from the 4-4-2. Tomáš Souček struggled badly on his first competitive appearance of the season against QPR and may return to the bench after being thrown straight into the starting line-up.
Kanté offers energy, physicality and a goal threat, with his return giving Nuno a useful weapon following Friday’s lifeless display. As Claret & Hugh highlighted after the QPR game, the young Frenchman could be particularly effective against tiring opponents.
Nevertheless, I expect Nuno to revert to the central-midfield partnership of Divine Mukasa and Arne Engels. That combination had been working before the international break and deserves another opportunity.
West Ham need attacking full-backs
I would retain Konstantinos Mavropanos and Max Kilman in central defence, but change both full-backs.
Joël Veltman deserves a start at right-back because Kyle Walker-Peters has been poor. On the opposite side, I would like to see Adama Boiro given an opportunity ahead of Morato and Ollie Scarles, who are both more defensive options.
West Ham need to go for this. We need to play like we are the best team in the division, and attacking full-backs should be a significant part of that approach.
That is particularly important because Lincoln looked vulnerable when defending crosses during their 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United. Nuno has been handed a fairly obvious blueprint for how to attack them; it is now up to him whether he pays attention to it.
Despite my preference for Boiro, I predict Nuno will retain Morato at left-back and select Veltman on the right.
Lincoln cannot be treated casually
This will be West Ham’s first league meeting with Lincoln since the 1957/58 Second Division season.
The Imps are back in the second tier for the first time in 65 years after Michael Skubala guided them to the League One title. Their rapid rise deserves respect, and a physical away game under the lights represents another proper Championship examination.
However, Lincoln did not look good during their 3-0 loss at Sheffield United. They appeared particularly susceptible to balls delivered into the penalty area, which should encourage Bowen and Manor Solomon to attack from wide positions.
Mason Melia and Tendayi Darikwa are injury doubts, while Reeco Hackett and Andrei Coubiș could return after missing Saturday’s defeat.
West Ham unquestionably possess the better squad. The challenge is producing a performance which reflects that advantage from the opening whistle rather than waiting until the second half to start playing.
Gonzo’s predicted West Ham team
Predicting Nuno’s selection is extremely difficult at the moment. Although the return of Kanté gives him the option of using an additional midfielder, I believe he will remain loyal to his 4-4-2.
| Position | Player |
|---|---|
| GK | Mads Hermansen |
| RB | Joël Veltman |
| CB | Konstantinos Mavropanos |
| CB | Max Kilman |
| LB | Morato |
| RM | Jarrod Bowen |
| CM | Arne Engels |
| CM | Divine Mukasa |
| LM | Manor Solomon |
| CF | Taty Castellanos |
| CF | Joël Piroe |
Formation: 4-4-2
Gonzo’s prediction
West Ham need to start quickly and demonstrate that Friday’s performance was merely a bad night rather than evidence of a more concerning decline.
Lincoln will make the game physical and attempt to turn it into an uncomfortable evening, but their vulnerability against crosses should suit a West Ham side containing Bowen, Solomon and two centre-forwards.
Nuno has the players and he has the blueprint. This is now about selecting the right team and allowing it to attack.
Prediction: Lincoln City 0-2 West Ham United
Full fixture and travel information is available in West Ham United’s official match guide.
We need to play Pablo and Kante as we’ll need some mix it, and we need to be under orders to come out of the blocks sprinting as we need to establish ascendancy from the start.
Nuno needs to pick the correct starting line up for once, not arrive at it through substitutions at half time.
The result depends on whether we get that right or not, unless we do we’ll be lucky to win by a two goal margin.