Injuries galore

More bad news on the injury front with the news that Lucas Paqueta will be out for maybe eight weeks with a calf injury and Jarrod Bowen will probably miss the Sheffield United match with his ankle injury. Meanwhile Antonio has had a setback in training, though slightly better news is that Mavropanos is nursing bruises but should be fit soon. But with Kudus likely to be in Africa until mid-February if Ghana go all the way our entire attack is now absent. 

West Ham can't rely on Ings and Mubama as a strike force so signings are required. Steven Bergwijn might help and West Ham now have a good relationship with Ajax. He scored seven times in 60 games for Spurs, but a lot of those appearances came as a late sub and he was never going to get far as Harry Kane's deputy. Bergwijn did score a cracking winner against Man City and his figures with Ajax of 19 goals in 45 appearances are more promising. But it seems the club will have to sell first, with Lyon interested in Benrahma and Fornals, Cornet, and Ings up for sale. 

Though it would be a mistake to let Nayef Aguerd go to Saudi Arabia; he's made some mistakes but is generally a cultured defender and is going to get better, while securing a replacement in January would be very difficult. We're down to Harry Redknapp's bare bones. It's going to be an interesting and nerve-wracking window.

Antonio woe

Well, international duty went well. Antonio is out for two to three weeks, Jarrod Bowen left England duty with an unspecified knee injury and Vladimir Coufal was sent home by the Czech Republic after being pictured in a nightclub on the eve of a game. You suspect Vlad might have got a taste for clubbing after the lads' night out in Prague on June 7; he plays a bit like a Seventies footballer and it's a reassuringly Seventies-style misdemeanour, at least.

There are also rumours Kudus has a knock from playing for Ghana, so we could be well short up front at Burnley. I'd stick in Divin Mubama who deserves a chance and bring on former Claret Danny Ings in the second half to offer him some support. We know Ings can't play the solo striker role but he might yet prosper alongside a target man. Burnley have a terrible home record and WHU have to find a way of being ruthless, injuries or not.

Irons need creative midfielder as injury crisis hits

More bad news on the injury front. Andy Carroll is out for three months following an operation on his fractured ankle, while it's reported that Manuel Lanzini could miss four to six weeks with his hamstring injury and Arnautovic is out for three weeks with a hamstring problem. We're down to Hernandez up front, while West Ham urgently need a replacement for Lanzini, as there's no-one at the club who can play the number ten role. Not replacing Payet, sold a year ago, has made the situation even worse. 

One solution might be David Moyes' pursuit of Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier, who is not a prolific scorer but can play the creator role. Though knowing West Ham we might sign Paul Clement the former Swansea manager by mistake. Lanzini's injury could be a chance for Ayew to play behind the main striker, but he's always looked more of a winger or striker than a midfielder (and without an injury crisis he would surely have gone back to Swansea after a reported £14m bid). 

The rest of the squad is over-stocked with defensive midfielders, though Kouyate did play better in a more advanced role on Saturday and Antonio would be a boost if he was ever fit, though again his injury sounds serious. Another four wins are needed for survival and action needs to be taken in the transfer window now.

Sitting on defence: Hammers in new injury crisis

West Ham could go into the Liverpool game with a defence of Byram, Ogbonna, Rice and Masuaku. Slaven Biiic faces a defensive crisis: Winston Reid picked up a calf injury before the game at Palace, while Fonte injured his foot at Selhurst Park and James Collins is also out. Aaron Cresswell also went off injured at Palace and on top of that Zabaleta will be suspended for the Liverpool match. 

Looking at the glass-half full option Ogbonna probably deserves a run after his winner at Spurs, even if he did concede a penalty at Palace. We know from the Payet season that at his best he's a fine left-sided defender and it has to be remembered he's still coming back from a long spell out. Declan Rice looks a real prospect too, even if he does lack experience. I'd stick Byram in at right back after his Carabao Cup performances and also because he is a specialist right-back. The worry is that tinkerman Bilic might play Kouyate as an emergency right-back. Another more reasonable option might be to move Kouyate to centre-back in to a back five, which would suit Byram and Masuaku more.  

The glass half-empty option is that Liverpool have brilliant forward options through the likes of Salah, Sturridge and Firmino, even if Sane is injured and Coutinho doubtful. While Antonio is now out for WHU. Mind you, Liverpool''s back-line still looks dodgy. So with two suspect defences you get the feeling there might be plenty of goals on Saturday night.

Oh Carroll! Getting our injury crisis in early…

Andy Carroll is set to miss the first three game of the season while he recovers from a thigh injury. I'm not even sure what part of his body is injured anymore. Last season Slaven said AC was "feeling his groin" after the game at Sunderland in April and then we never saw him again. That was three and a half months ago. He's still a great player if he can make the pitch, but Andy's body just doesn't seem up to the rigours of the PL anymore. Meanwhile Antonio is on course with his recovery but will miss the first game of the season at Old Trafford and Kouyate has picked up an injury too. Oh well, at least we've got our injury crisis in early. 

On a more positive note, it was good to see Toni Martinez get a game and score with a well-taken header against Werder Bremen. With Andy forever crocked, he may well get a few more run-outs this season.

Centre back required

Not sure who's going to be in the centre of our defence against Man United today. Collins and Reid are both out, so we have to hope James Tomkins will be fit. Reece Burke and new signing Doniel Henry are also injured and Guy Demel is doubtful too. So in a worst case scenario we could have Joey O'Brien at centre back alongside either Kouyate or Song. Doesn't sound good against Van Persie, Rooney, Di Maria and Falcao, though at least Sakho is available — he will probably replace the injured Carroll — and Kouyate is back from Africa. And there is always the outside chance that Big Sam will come out of retirement and play in the middle of the back your himself. Or maybe Mr Moon could do a job?

Is this an injury crisis?

Are we getting our injury crisis in early? We're now without Ricardo Vaz Te, Guy Demel, Matt Taylor, Diarra and Jack Collison. The right-back position is the most worrying. Guy Demel was showing good form after an extended run even though we don't as yet have a song for Guy - though Elton John might oblige. James Tomkins has done a good job filling in, though is much more of a natural centre back. Joey O'Brien might be a better deputy against a speedy attack like Manchester City as he knows the position. Apart from Cole and Maiga our bench is mow looking pretty thin. We'll just have to hope the starting X1 put in a shift - and how about a first goal for Andy Carroll please?