Relegation-haunted West Ham take on runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield tonight desperate to kickstart their season.
The Hammers lie 18th in the table and face a real battle to preserve their top-flight status, with the trip to Anfield being followed by testing fixtures against Southampton, Arsenal, Wolves, Tottenham and Chelsea.
They are winless in the league since David Moyes' first game of his second spell in charge on New Year's Day and have picked up three points just six times all season so far.
The former Everton boss was able to add to his squad during the January transfer window however, bringing in highly rated youngster Jarrod Bowen from Hull City for £20m, goalkeeper Darren Randolph from Middlesbrough for £4m and midfielder Tomas Soucek on loan from Slavia Prague.
And an incredible stat from the latter's performance during West Ham's 2-0 away defeat at Manchester City last Wednesday night may perhaps give some hope that the Londoners might yet be able to extricate themselves from the mire they currently find themselves in.
The 24-year-old Czech, in only his second game for the Irons having made his debut against Brighton earlier this month, covered an astonishing 13.1 kilometres during the game at the Etihad - 1.7km more than the next best visiting player on the night, Declan Rice, and more than any other West Ham player for SIX YEARS.
Soucek is renowned for being able to cover plenty of ground, having ran more than 50km in the first four matches of this year's Champions League when he was still with Slavia Prague, the furthest of any other player in the tournament, Teamtalk reports.
David Moyes said: “Tomas ran more the other night than any West Ham player has run for six years, which you have to say for someone who’s just arrived at the club is an incredible stat.
“Now it’s not all about running but it’s a big part of it and it certainly helps.
“I had a feeling when we signed him that that was one of his strengths. But for him to come in and do that at the moment is great – at West Ham we’ve talked about needing some legs, a bit more energy, running, covering the ground more.
“And he’s a goal threat. Against Brighton he had a couple of chances and at City he was nearly on the end of one.
“We’re talking about young players, Declan, Jarrod Bowen, and I’m saying Tomas at the moment is 23 (sic) and you’ve got this.
“We’re in a tough period and we’re trying to gather some positives from it. Hopefully one or two of the young players can have an impact.”
