Fulham coach Marco Silva says Fulham will face a West Ham United side coming into form on Sunday.
After a tough start to the season, David Moyes’ men secured their second Premier League win last week, while they’ve also taken maximum points in each of their Europa Conference League outings.
Marco Silva said: “They are getting better. Two back-to-back wins, one in the Premier League and yesterday in European competition, giving them the confidence they needed. We respect them, their quality is clear. A team that is playing different competitions and can yesterday change nine players from the last game against Wolves – it shows the depth of their squad, the individual quality they have. It gives Moyes these type of solutions for him to change because he knows that they will play two games in four days, Thursday and Sunday.”
When asked if he was surprised by the Hammers’ start to the season, in which they lost five of their opening seven fixtures, Silva suggested it’s just the nature of the beast.
Marco Silva said: “It’s the Premier League, you know. You have a bad result and then the second one doesn’t come in the way you want it, and after you have to get some confidence again. They signed very, very good players during the market, they spent a big amount of money as well, but some players have to adapt for the Premier League, even if they have high, high quality. But even without the best start I think everyone realises and recognises the quality they have, the individual quality they have. You are talking about a team that, the last few seasons, fought always to be in the European competitions. In some moments two seasons ago they fought to be sometimes in the top four of these competitions. In my opinion, what they are doing now was a matter of time for them, to get good results again, because the quality is there. They haven’t changed many things from the last few seasons – same manager, same players, and they have very good quality in their squad. It will be a tough one for us. It’s a very good atmosphere, a good stadium, to play football against a good side, but we want to enjoy it, embrace the challenge, and go there to fight for the three points.”