Said Benrahma made his West Ham debut during the Hammers’ 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday evening and is targeting his first start this weekend against Fulham.
The Algerian was thrown on in the 88th minute at Anfield along with Manuel Lanzini as David Moyes’ side had fallen behind to Diogo Jota’s strike, being pegged back thanks to Mo Salah’s penalty five minutes before halftime.
The loan signing from Brentford only managed to touch the ball four times during his very short stay on the pitch as West Ham’s four-game unbeaten run came to an end at the home of the champions.
Benrahma had to wait for his first appearance as David Moyes didn’t select him for the squad for the 1-1 draw against Manchester City in the previous game but the winger will now be targeting a first Premier League start against Scott Parker’s strugglers this weekend.
Writing on Instagram, Benrahma said: “I’m glad I got the opportunity to play my first minutes with West Ham, but disappointed by the result.
“I’m sure we’ll be back stronger next week against Fulham.”
After Sebastien Haller’s somewhat lacklustre return to the Premier League starting lineup where he failed to get a shot on goal, Moyes may be tempted to shuffle the pack to face Fulham, who have yet to win this season, at London Stadium.
In the absence of Michail Antonio through injury, West Ham have lost a huge focal point of their team and the goalscoring threat of Antonio as well, who has netted three times so far this season before sustaining a hamstring problem against Manchester City.
After a brutal run of fixtures, West Ham face a bottom half team this weekend for just the second time so far this season as former Hammer Scott Parker brings his Fulham side across the capital to east London for an 8pm kick off in Stratford.
Benrahma’s teammate Tomas Soucek, who has played every minute of the 2020/21 campaign so far, is anticipating a very different match when Fulham arrive.
“It will be a different challenge from the last four games for us now,” the Czech midfielder said.
“We’ve been playing teams from the top six recently and now we want to keep more of the ball and create more chances.”
The game against Fulham will be broadcast live on BT Sports Box Office, with fans of both sides having to pay £14.95 for the privilege of watching the game on TV.
