3 options for West Ham in attack v Brighton with Carroll suspended

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Andy Carroll is suspended for West Ham’s match against Brighton so here are three options for manager Slaven Bilic.

Andy Carroll of West Ham United argues with the referee during the Premier League match against Burnley.

West Ham United will be without Andy Carroll for this Friday’s (October 20) Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion after picking up two yellow cards within the first 27 minutes of their 1-1 draw at Burnley.

It means that after pairing Carroll with Javier Hernandez in attack for the past two matches, manager Slaven Bilic will have to think of a new system. Here are three options.

Diafra Sakho (2nd R) of West Ham United celebrates scoring the opening goal with his teammates during the Premier League match against Swansea City.

Diafra Sakho

The obvious and perhaps most simple choice would be to start Sakho alongside Hernandez, withe the striker having come off the bench in seven of the Hammers’ eight outings but is yet to start in the league.

The 27-year-old already has one goal having scored the winner against Swansea City and arguably against Brighton they should be playing two upfront to push for the three points.

Marko Arnautovic of West Ham United attempts to get past Serge Aurier and Toby Alderweireld of Tottenham Hotspur.

Marko Arnautovic

Recognised as a winger, the imposing strength and physique of Arnautovic means he could potentially operate as a number nine and he has played in the position at times in his career.

Physically the Austria international is probably the most similar option in the squad to Carroll and the 28-year-old was a relatively consistent source of goals for Stoke City previously, but maybe lacks the discipline to take up a new role?

Change formation

Hernandez arguably plays at his best with a strike partner, but as long as the Mexican is operating through the middle he can still be effective and did score plenty of goals for Bayer Leverkusen as a lone forward.

With Arnautovic, Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini in behind the 29-year-old he would have support in attack and with the former Manchester United man having been pushed out wide to accommodate Carroll at times this season, perhaps his absence could be a positive.