West Ham United playmaker Pablo Fornals is set to miss out on a starting spot against Aston Villa, according to Football Insider.
The reputable football outlet claim that Manuel Pellegrini is edging towards naming an unchanged side from the team that beat Norwich City 2-0 before the international break.
Football Insider report that the team shape being worked on in training is a similar set-up, meaning that the £25million summer signing, Fornals, is expected to be on the bench at Villa Park.
The 23-year-old has only managed to start a single Premier League game this season and has only completed 59 minutes in the other fixtures.
OPINION
Given the dominance that the Hammers had in their win over Norwich before the break, it comes as no surprise that Pellegrini will be leaning towards naming the same side. The 2-0 scoreline certainly flattered the Canaries, and it could have been much more on the afternoon. When the side is putting in that sort of performance on a weekly basis, Fornals simply doesn’t deserve to come into the starting line-up. The Spaniard has been poor in the opening month of the Premier League and has failed to recreate his sparkling form from the under-23s European Championships in the summer. The 23-year-old has yet to complete a key pass in his four appearances and has only averaged 0.5 shots per game according to WhoScored. With Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson continuing to shine in the final third on the ball, it is becoming harder to find any spot in the starting line-up at the Hammers for Fornals, who must do more when coming off the bench to prove himself to Pellegrini.
