Michail Antonio has been labelled ‘one of the cleverest’ strikers in the Premier League and will be a big blow for West Ham having him out injured.
The 30-year-old picked up a hamstring injury against Man City last weekend and it is worse than initially feared.
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Antonio will miss at least a month of action, starting with the Hammers’ clash with Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday – with commentary of the match live on talkSPORT.
The forward is West Ham’s top scorer this season with three goals and has 11 in his last 13 total Premier League games dating back to the Premier League restart in June.
Former Hammers midfielder Trevor Sinclair believes Antonio would have thrived against a depleted Liverpool team.
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He told talkSPORT: “It doesn’t matter who they’re playing against it’s a huge miss because Antonio, people talk about his strength but he’s possibly one of the cleverest strikers I’ve seen in the Premier League this year.
“The way that he holds the ball up, the timing of his movement, the fact he fights for space before the ball even gets there by getting involved with the central defenders.
“His finishing has improved. You saw the overhead kick last week. He had to hold a player off and say ‘wait there a minute’ while this ball comes in to execute this overhead kick. He’s playing out of his skin.
“He’s also got the athleticism and the speed. It’s a massive blow, especially when you take into consideration that Virgil van Dijk is missing and even Fabinho, who did fill that spot for Liverpool really well.
“He’s also injured with a hamstring so it could have been an opportunity where he would have played against Rhys Williams or Joe Gomez. I feel West Ham would have really thrived in those conditions.”
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