West Ham United attacker Samir Nasri has been ruled out of Saturday’s game against Leicester City, according to Claret & Hugh.
The reliable Hammers news source claims that the 31-year-old will once again be sidelined after missing last weekend’s narrow defeat to Manchester United.
The attacking midfielder felt some pain during his warm up before the Red Devils clash, although it was expected he would be back in time for Saturday’s game at the London Stadium.
However, the player remains injured and has already been ruled out, leaving manager Manuel Pellegrini with a selection headache with Manuel Lanzini already expected to miss out.
OPINION
This is a major blow to the Hammers’ chances on Saturday. Lanzini was already expected to miss out against Brendan Rodgers’s side having picked up an injury against United, leaving Nasri as the obvious candidate to replace him due to the similarities in their games. However, that apparently won’t be happening now. That leaves the creative onus firmly on playmaker Felipe Anderson on Saturday. Pellegrini does have a few options. He could start Robert Snodgrass in favour of a safety-first, industrious approach. Michail Antonio would also be a strong candidate to get the nod after impressing off the bench last time out. Then there’s youngster Grady Diangana who hasn’t really had much chance to impress in recent months. So Pellegrini isn’t bereft of options, but the aforementioned trio are all completely different players to Lanzini and Nasri. None of them have the guile of the playmaking duo, perhaps foreshadowing a tricky encounter on Saturday.
