It was not immediately obvious why Sky Sports had chosen this contest for its Super Sunday broadcast. Only a fortnight earlier, a similar call had been punished, West Ham’s drab 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace filling the airwaves while a total of 16 goals flew in across the three other matches taking place concurrently.
By half-time on Sunday, though, the answer was clear: Mohammed Kudus is, with each passing week, proving himself compulsory viewing.
The Ghanaian scored two tearaway goals before the break to set the Hammers on their way to a 3-0 victory over Wolves, Jarrod Bowen later adding the clincher as Lucas Paqueta laid on a hat-trick of assists.
It is nine goals now for Kudus since he swapped Ajax’s red and white for claret and blue this summer, six of those having come since the start of November, following a gradual easing into the side.
Now, he looks indispensable, which is about to become a significant problem for David Moyes, since the winger must literally be dispensed early next month to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Kudus is expected to be available for West Ham’s home meeting against Brighton on January 2 before joining up with his country for the tournament in the Ivory Coast.
He is certain to miss the FA Cup third-round tie against Bristol City and a Premier League trip to Sheffield United, as well as both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final should Moyes’s side win their quarter-final against Liverpool on Wednesday.
Depending on Ghana’s progress, League matches against Bournemouth, Manchester United and Arsenal could take the tally to seven games in which West Ham would have to do without the 23-year-old - a looming absence that, owing to the glass-half-empty precondition of the football fan, hung over the player’s brilliance here.
“It’s a huge blow, because he scores goals and makes goals,” Moyes said at full-time. “We’re going to have to find other ways.”
The most obvious of them would be to restore Jarrod Bowen to his most natural position on the right wing. It was while running off that flank after a late switch with Kudus that the Englishman scored his 10th League goal of the season on Sunday, and Moyes has already suggested that his recent conversion to centre-forward is still very much in the trial stage.
For that rejig to work, however, Moyes will need Michail Antonio back to fitness to lead the line, the Jamaica striker currently sidelined by a knee injury picked up during last month’s international break. For all Antonio’s flaws, neither Danny Ings nor Divin Mubama currently look capable of doing the job as well.
"Beyond replacing Kudus directly will come the challenge of replicating the dynamic he has brought in one of the division’s most exciting attacks"
Beyond Bowen’s redeployment, Moyes’s options out wide will largely depend on other AFCON call-ups, with Said Benrahma and Maxwel Cornet on the fringes of the Algeria and Ivory Coast squads, respectively, in part because of their lack of playing time at club level.
Pablo Fornals’s versatility could prove key in covering, but the Hammers are open to offers for the Spaniard next month, following summer interest in his homeland and Saudi Arabia.
Beyond replacing Kudus directly, though, will come the challenge of replicating the dynamic he has brought to Moyes’s side in a front-three alongside Paqueta and Bowen that suddenly looks among the division’s most exciting. They made the difference here - and a rather large one at that.
