West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has a huge call to make this weekend, as dropping Mark Noble could aid his side’s chances of relegation.
The Hammers enter a crucial relegation battle with Swansea City on the back of five consecutive defeats and a sixth loss on the trot would see their advantage over the bottom three cut to just two points.
Whilst captain Mark Noble is an important member to their side, Sky Sports has identified the midfielder is one of nine Premier League players currently on nine yellow cards.
A booking against the Swans this weekend would see Noble handed a two-match ban, ruling him out of crucial clashes with Sunderland and Everton.
However, the threshold for yellow cards raise to 15 following this weekend’s fixtures and leaving Noble out of the line-up this weekend would leave the midfielder available for the remainder of the season.
It would certainly be a gutsy call for the Hammers but losing Noble for two matches is something the struggling side simply cannot afford to endure, as it would hand their chances of survival a real blow.
Noble isn’t the only player in this weekend’s tie at risk of being handed a ban though, as Swansea City’s Leroy Fer also has nine bookings to his name this season.
