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Lanzini faces race against time for Aston Villa clash

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Image for Lanzini faces race against time for Aston Villa clash

West Ham United playmaker Manuel Lanzini is facing a race against time for Monday’s clash against Aston Villa.

The 26-year-old is set to feature for Argentina against Mexico and will be the last player involved in international duty from the Hammers’ squad this week.

Claret and Hugh have reported that with the air time differences, Lanzini isn’t expected to return to the London Stadium until Friday evening.

Apart from Michail Antonio and Winston Reid, Manuel Pellegrini is said to still have a fully fit squad available to him for the trip to Villa Park after a successful two-week break saw no setbacks.

OPINION

Should Pellegrini not have Lanzini to call upon for the game on Monday, it would be a real miss. The Argentine has been phenomenal at the start of the Premier League season and signed a new four-year-deal to reiterate his importance to the Hammers. After last season was plagued with injury, Lanzini has bounced back in perfect style – starting every game so far. The 26-year-old has been the standout player for West Ham so far and has been central to their early successes. Lanzini has averaged 3.5 key passes per game according to WhoScored from in behind the lone striker, nearly double the amount of any other player in the squad. The Argentinian has also completed 3.3 dribbles, a stat that only Felipe Anderson has bettered so far. Lanzini has come back with a bang after an inconsistent season last time out, and he would be a massive miss should he not be able to start against Villa.

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