West Ham United are still in with a shot for silverware across all fronts after defeating League One side Lincoln City 1-0 in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday night, despite not playing at their best.
David Moyes made ten changes to the side that fell to defeat against Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, and while the Imps proved a nuisance with their physicality and long throws – with The Athletic's Roshane Thomas remarking that West Ham were "struggling" in the first half – they got the job done.
That being said, there was certainly cause for concern, especially given veteran goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was forced into making five saves and 12 ball recoveries, also taking 51 touches – with Sofascore bestowing him with a match-high rating of 8.3.
Having covered the contest, Thomas remarked at the "brilliant" performance of the Polish shot-stopper, with, as is so often the case, the lesser team a thorn in a squad of Premier League quality's side.
It was a return to winning ways though and a pleasing one at that, with Thomas Soucek netting the decisive goal in the second half; West Ham have been drawn at home to Arsenal in the fourth round, with the Gunners' £105m man Declan Rice returning home after leaving the Irons in the summer.
Having lost to Jurgen Klopp's Reds last weekend and against champions and title favourites Manchester City the week before – though with victory over Serbian side Backa Topola sandwiched between – Moyes has demonstrated his squad's strength in depth, having made comprehensive changes and prevailed against what could very well have been a banana skin.
Focus will now shift back to top-flight action, where newly-promoted strugglers Sheffield United will make the trip to the London Stadium to attempt to claim their first victory since promotion.
The Hammers' ten goals conceded in the Premier League is the joint-highest of any club in the top 14 thus far, and, as such, perhaps it is high time for Konstantinos Mavropanos to earn his first starting berth in the division since completing a £19m transfer from German outfit Stuttgart in the summer.
How did Konstantinos Mavropanos play vs Lincoln?
The Greek "gladiator" – as he has been described by former boss Pellegrino Matarazzo – did not cut the mustard with Arsenal in previous years and managed only eight appearances before moving on, picking up a red card in that time.
Sold for roughly £5m, Mavropanos kickstarted his career in the Bundesliga and forged 89 displays before West Ham came calling, and after making an "impressive" debut last week – as said by journalist Dan Woffenden – in the Europa League, he has now backed up his quality with another assured display.
According to Sofascore, Mavropanos recorded a satisfying score of 7.5 on the night, taking a mammoth 128 touches, completing 91% of his passes and winning all four of his duels.
Also making five clearances and preventing an opposing attacker from dribbling past him – a feat he also accomplished in Europe last week – the 25-year-old looks set for a big future under his Scottish boss' tutelage, and while he has yet to start in the English top-flight, the ingredients are there for sustained success.
As per FBref, the 6 foot 3 titan ranks remarkably among his positional peers, among the top 8% for goals, shot-creating actions and progressive passes, the top 11% for progressive carries, the top 6% for successful take-ons, the top 1% for tackles and the top 5% for aerial wins per 90.
To say that the £50k-per-week star is dynamic would be a disservice to his all-encompassing skill set, and while Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd have performed well at the centre of the Hammers backline over the past year, Mavropanos undoubtedly offers a different flavour.
It's now paramount that he receives his maiden start in the Premier League for West Ham, and against the physical Sheffield United on Saturday, this could well be the perfect opportunity for him to properly integrate into the system.
While this is so, another Irons defender staked their claim for a more prominent role after serving on the fringe for the opening phase of the 2023/24 campaign, and after a confident and positive performance at the LNER Stadium, full-back Ben Johnson has indeed made his presence known to his manager.
How good is Ben Johnson?
Johnson has been on West Ham's books since the age of seven, and while he was a fearsome winger in his formative years, a transformation into an attack-minded full-back has proved fruitful for his journey into the senior set-up.
Irons coach Stuart Pearce has been one to sing the 23-year-old's praises since his ascendancy from the youth ranks, saying: "He's a wonderful professional to deal with and work with. We're very proud to have him out of our academy system as well, which is a real plus for us, especially with the connection to this club with the academy.
"I think he's just developing and getting better and better, and like with all young players, the more game time they have, the better they'll get, so I am delighted for the boy."
He's made 88 appearances since his debut in 2019, but this season had only featured in the Europa League before Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash, benched for the first three Premier League games of the term and not even included in the matchday squad for the past three.
Against Lincoln, though, he took his chance and recorded an exemplary match score of 7.9, winning eight of his 13 duels, succeeding with all four of his dribbles, making three tackles, two clearances and a key pass, also hitting the woodwork.
It's important to remember that the ten-cap England U21 international produced a performance against a side plying their trade two divisions below West Ham, but it was positive nonetheless.
With the club fighting across four fronts this season and looking to achieve success in each one, the squad's overall quality must be aptly maximised and with Johnson galvanised by a pleasing match, he must now be unleashed on the Premier League.