West Ham United star man Lucas Paqueta could be set for a spell on the bench against Nottingham Forest this weekend, according to GiveMeSport.
The Hammers are looking to make it back-to-back wins this weekend after a late winner against Manchester United last weekend, as they travel to the City Ground on Saturday to take on The Garibaldis.
It seems as if boss Julen Lopetegui has bought himself some more time at the helm of the East London club after picking up all three points in ‘El Sackio. Now, according to sources at GiveMeSport, the Spaniard could make a huge move by dropping Paqueta.
The report says: “GMS sources have been informed that Paqueta is on course to find himself on the bench at the City Ground, which will be a high-profile decision from Lopetegui after being included from the start in eight of West Ham’s nine Premier League fixtures this term, and Tomas Soucek is among the options who could come into the middle of the park at his expense.”
Paqueta bench spell expected
The Brazilian international has started every game for the Hammers this season, but dropping him to the bench for the Forest game might not be as crazy as it seems.
Paqueta has started the season slowly, only picking up two goals in his first nine games and even found himself hooked at half-time against the Red Devils after a poor 45 minutes.
West Ham went on to look more dangerous and defensively sound with Paqueta out of the team and was able to take advantage of this by picking up two goals and three points thanks to Crysencio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen.
Before coming off, Paqueta had a 6.7 match rating and only managed 0.04 expected goals (xG) and 0.01 expected assists (xA). He also failed to make a key pass, lost both his ground duels and lost possession 10 times.
Tomas Soucek is rumoured to make the starting eleven in Paqueta’s place, this may not excite fans Soucek is a steady performer who has two Premier League goals and provides a dangerous aerial threat.
