West Ham United are less than a week away from returning to Premier League action against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
In what will be the Hammers’ first competitive match for 38 days due to the 2022 World Cup, they have had three friendlies since their last competitive match against Leicester City on November 12, winning two and drawing their other.
After starting their run of friendlies with a 4-2 win away at Cambridge United, four days later, they won again on the road, beating Serie A side Udinese 3-1 at the Dacia Arena.
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On Saturday, West Ham played London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage in their final friendly, coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with the side they beat 3-1 in the league back in October.
Off the back of their three friendlies, they now have less than a week to go until facing Arsenal away from home, somewhere where Moyes has never won a league game as a manager.
Following the conclusion of their run of mid-season friendlies, here is a look at what West Ham can take from their trips to Cambridge, Udinese and Fulham.
Jarrod Bowen back to his best
One of the biggest disappointments so far this season has been the scoring form of winger Jarrod Bowen, who finished last season with 18 goals in all competitions.
So far, Bowen has netted only five goals this season, but three of those came in the Europa Conference League, with just two goals so far in the Premier League.
Against Cambridge, he opened the scoring with a superb strike from the edge of the box with his weaker right foot and while he did not score against Udinese, he did have a hand in all three goals, as well as looking more likely his normally lively self.
At Fulham, Bowen was back in the goals, making the most of a good Flynn Downes challenge after ex-Hammer Issa Diop gave the ball away before West Ham countered and Bowen finished well.
With two goals and more contributions to those for others, the form of him and Said Benrahma in the trio of friendlies can only be a positive for West Ham.
Worrying trait, but fight shown
Something that all three friendlies have in common this month is the fact that in all of them, West Ham went 1-0 down in the first half.
Bowen took just a minute to level after Zeno Ibsen Rossi’s opener against Cambridge, while Benrahma took just over 30 minutes to cancel out Roberto Pereyra’s opening goal against Udinese. It took longer against Fulham, but again, Bowen cancelled out Carlos Vinicius’ first half header.
It is a concern, of course, that in all three games, West Ham have gone behind, but what can be taken as a positive is the fact that the Hammers were able to get back in the game, winning the first two by two goals and earning a draw in the other.
In the Premier League this season, West Ham have only picked up five points from losing positions this season, meaning that they have only earned a result in three of the 12 games they have conceded the first goal in.
West Ham will ideally want to get rid of their knack of giving their opponents early advantages, but if they cannot at times, the next best thing is to be able to fight back from it.
Injuries mounting up
Going into the return to training, Zouma was the only known absentee due to undergoing surgery, but the return to training, combined with matches and players away at the World Cup, has led to a sudden pile-up of injuries.
Winger Maxwel Cornet’s return from a calf issue has suffered another setback and it seems as if he could miss the first Christmas fixtures. Left-back Aaron Cresswell came off early in the win over Cambridge with a hamstring issue and as a consequence, has missed the trips to Udinese and Fulham.
Up front, there are more concerns. Michail Antonio missed the Fulham game due to concerns with a thigh issue, with Gianluca Scamacca coming off in the first half of that game after a nasty tackle from ex-Hammer Issa Diop.
At the World Cup, Nayef Aguerd has suffered a groin injury, although is not thought to be serious, but the close proximity of all of these fresh concerns comes at a bad time for the Hammers ahead of their return.
Currently, Zouma’s is thought to be the only long-term absentee and the hope is that it stays that way.
Playing himself back into plans?
With German defender Kehrer at the World Cup, there has been a chance for Vladimir Coufal to be back in action and prove to Moyes he is deserving of a recall.
While Kehrer has been one of the most consistent of the summer signings made by Moyes, there have been a few key moments in games directly involving him that has not gone down well with supporters.
He attacked well when given the chance to play against Cambridge and Udinese and having started Udinese and Cambridge ahead of Ben Johnson, Coufal currently seems the preferred choice ahead of Johnson, which has not always been the case this season.
With Kehrer only playing once at the World Cup, there may be a chance for Coufal to get back in Moyes’ main 11, despite recent transfer links with Bayer Leverkusen.
A good run of results
Considering West Ham entered the break off the back of three straight defeats and four points from a possible 18 in the Premier League, the mid-season friendlies have been a pleasing run of form.
As well as back to back wins over Cambridge and Udinese, they then did well to come from behind to earn a draw against Fulham, who currently sit ninth in the table.
If you turned that into points, it would be seven from a possible nine, a run West Ham have not gone on in the Premier League since the opening three games of October.
As well as that, they scored eight goals and domestically, West Ham have been one of the worst scoring sides in the division, so the hope up front is that they can continue that scoring form. However, with Scamacca and Antonio currently injured, that may prove to be a challenge.
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