With West Ham rooted to the foot of the Premier League table and Slaven Bilic facing some uncomfortable questions regarding his ongoing presence in the dugout, the hosts desperately need to kick-start their campaign on the back of the international break.
Huddersfield may have been viewed as favourable opponents before a ball was kicked back in August, but their start to life in the big time (unbeaten and yet to concede a goal) suggests that they will travel to the capital in buoyant mood and ready to put another nail in Bilic’s coffin.
WEST HAM INJURIES
The good news for Bilic is that injury-ravaged striker Andy Carroll should be ready to play some part in the crunch clash, with a decision needing to be made on whether he is used from the start or off the bench.
Elsewhere, the Hammers have plenty of other fitness concerns to contend with.
Manuel Lanzini was forced to pull out of Argentina’s squad for Monday’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Venezuela with a recurrence of the knee problem which hindered his pre-season.
Edimilson Fernandes suffered a sprained ankle during the international break while turning out for Switzerland’s U-21 side, while Andre Ayew picked up a thigh complaint with Ghana.
Neither are expected to be involved on Monday, but Winston Reid should have fully recovered from a calf problem in time to feature and Diafra Sakho is still at the club despite his deadline-day shenanigans.
WEST HAM SUSPENSIONS
Marko Arnautovic will serve the final instalment of his three-match ban for the red card he picked up against Southampton for an elbow on Jack Stephens.
The Austria international has now been forced to sit out more games for the Hammers than he has featured in following a £20 million summer switch from Stoke.
WEST HAM POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
Having toiled their way to three successive defeats, West Ham are likely to shuffle their pack for a first home date of the season - having seen the World Athletics Championship force them to start the campaign out on the road.
Reid is likely to slot straight back in at the heart of the defence, having been missing since the opening weekend, with Joe Hart eager to secure a first clean sheet of his loan spell in the capital.
Carroll could come in to provide support alongside Javier Hernandez, offering Bilic more of an attacking threat and a physical presence to trouble the Huddersfield back line.
HUDDERSFIELD TEAM NEWS
The Terriers have no fresh fitness concerns to contend with, but they remain without the services of Jonathan Hogg who is nursing an ankle injury.
Defender Martin Cranie is sidelined with a hip problem, while Jon Gorenc Stankovic is unlikely to figure until the end of the calendar year as he works his way back from cruciate ligament damage.
New-boys Abdelhamid Sabiri, Florent Hadergjonaj and Rob Green could be involved in the matchday squad, while Laurent Depoitre and Abdelhamid Sabiri impressed during Sunday’s 3-0 friendly victory over Altona 93.
Christopher Lee
BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS
• This will be the first league meeting between the teams since March 1972, a game West Ham won 3-0 at Upton Park.
• This is only the second Premier League season that West Ham United have started with three defeats. In the other; 2010-11, they ended bottom of the league.
• Three of the last four teams to have lost their opening four Premier League games of the season have ended that campaign bottom of the league.
• Joe Hart has conceded as many goals in three Premier League games as a West Ham player than he did in his final 10 appearances for Manchester City in the competition (10).
• West Ham United have allowed their opponents a league-high nine clear-cut chances in front of goal this season, from which they have conceded eight goals.
TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
The match will kick off at 20:00 BST on Monday and will be aired live in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League. The game will also be available to stream on Sky Go.
