West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta hopes have increased
West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta hopes received a boost today with the news that both he and Michail Antonio will be fit for the game against Liverpool on Wednesday evening.
The Brazilian was in fabulous form against Bournemouth scoring with a towering header – timed to perfection above the defender – and making a fine all round contribution.
But he took a knock along with Mikey and left the action early with the team of course in a comfortable winning position.
Both players have had more than their fair share of injuries during the season but the striker is finding the net regularly again and Paqueta looks a real game changer.
Our top source revealed exclusively to CandH: “Hopefully, there are only seemingly a few small knocks in the team from yesterday, but you never really know until they report in.”
Meanwhile Jurgen Klopp has admitted that it was impossible for Roberto Firmino to feature against us in a key match for both sides and Tottenham Hotspur (April 30).
Whether manager David Moyes will choose to select his full strength team remains to be seen. Antonio looked decidedly leggy during the 4-0 win against Bournemouth, and the manager may look to rest some senior players.
Whilst the Hammers might not be mathematically safe, the recent upturn in form has afforded the manager some wriggle room to rotate his squad. Moyes has often alluded to West Ham running out of steam during the later parts of last seasons Europa Cup semi final run.
By Hughie Southon