Norwich City have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of their visit to the London Stadium on Saturday.
With Christoph Zimmermann now ruled out and Timm Klose a doubt, West Ham United must capitalise.
Both defenders started as the centre-back partnership in Tuesday night’s dismal 1-0 defeat at Crawley Town but both were forced off.
It summed up a cup tie to forget though, as Klose departed before the half-hour mark and Zimmermann followed just 10 minutes after the break.
Neither player has started a Premier League game this season after recovering from previous injuries and Daniel Farke, as cited by 101 Great Goals, has had his say on their conditions:
The first report I have got from my medical department is horrible. The first diagnosis with [Klose] is ACL. That would mean he is out until the end of the season or best-case, March or April. We hope and we pray it is not this news.
With [Zimmermann], it was planned to bring him on the pitch for 45 minutes. But with the injury to [Klose] he had to play a little bit longer and got a hit on his back and his hip area. The first news is it is more or less alright. We definitely need him.
READ WEST HAM’S VERDICT
Although Klose nor Zimmermann have featured in the league yet, it’s clear they’re important in Farke’s plans and West Ham must capitalise on their absence.
The Hammers will be full of confidence on home soil following last weekend’s victory at Watford, and Manuel Pellegrini should now have a solid idea of who will start in defence for the visitors.
Norwich’s backline should be unchanged from their first three Premier League outings, involving Max Aarons, Grant Hanley, Ben Godfrey and Jamal Lewis.
With eight goals conceded already, the weaknesses are there to target and it’d be very surprising if West Ham don’t make it back-to-back triumphs, or at least three games unbeaten.
