Lincoln City had prolonged their EFL Cup journey thanks to their beating of Sheffield United in the second round, and the League One crop gave West Ham a good run for their money on Wednesday, only to be thwarted time and time again by Lukasz Fabianski.
With 70 minutes on the clock, West Ham finally made a belated breakthrough, as Tomas Soucek bundled home from a corner to send the Europa Conference League champions into the fourth round, where an even sterner test at home to London rivals Arsenal awaits.
As was the case in the 2022-23 season, West Ham have rectified Premier League mistakes with knockout successes, having also overcome Backa Topola in their Europa League opener in between 3-1 Premier League losses to Liverpool and Manchester City, despite taking the lead against the Citizens and drawing themselves level against Jurgen Klopp’s side.
From taking nine points in their first four games to suffering back-to-back losses – albeit to the top two teams in the country right now based on the table – West Ham have slipped down to seventh in the rankings and also have a Europa League stopover in Freiburg to factor in next Thursday.
By keeping an inspired Lincoln team at arm’s length, West Ham recorded their first clean sheet of the season in midweek and have found the back of the net in all eight of their competitive fixtures so far this season – coincidentally the number that no Sheffield United fan wants to hear following the astonishing events of last weekend.
Owing to their second-round penalty shootout exit to Lincoln in the EFL Cup, Sheffield United and an under-fire Paul Heckingbottom have had ample time to dissect last weekend’s obliteration at the hands of Newcastle, which marked their heaviest home defeat ever in league football.
The Magpies’ extraordinary eight goals came from eight different scorers in front of an apathetic Bramall Lane crowd, doing wonders for Newcastle’s goal difference and leaving the Blades rooted to the bottom of the pile with just a single point to show from six top-flight outings so far.
Sheffield United head coach Paul Heckingbottom is now unsurprisingly the bookies’ favourite to become the first managerial casualty of the Premier League season, and there has even been talk of a reunion with Chris Wilder, but Heckingbottom’s job is seemingly safe for the time being as he somehow attempts to mastermind an immediate revival in the capital.
A weekend away from the scene of last week’s annihilation may be welcomed by some Sheffield United supporters, but their side have only won two Premier League games on the road since the first COVID-19 shutdown in March 2020, losing 10 of their last 11 top-flight games on rival territory.
A shot at salvation may therefore be beyond the Blades’ capabilities here, especially as West Ham did the double over Sheffield United when the sides last squared off in the 2020-21 season, edging a close contest 1-0 at Bramall Lane before a straightforward 3-0 rout at an empty London Stadium.
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While a plethora of first-teamers were understandably absent from West Ham’s trip to Lincoln, only one of them missed out due to injury, as Aaron Cresswell continues to nurse the hamstring problem that he sustained a
week ago.Aside from the stricken left-back, Moyes will well have every player available for selection at the London Stadium, and Emerson Palmieri will expect to bomb down that flank with Cresswell absent.The likes of James
Ward-Prowse, Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio and Alphonse Areola were given the night off completely in the EFL Cup, where Mohammed Kudus made his first domestic start in an Irons jersey, but the Ghana attacker will likely be kept waiting for his full Premier League debut.
