It may feel like an absolute age ago that West Ham were in action when they took on Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League back on February 1st, but that game was one in which the Hammers snatched a draw from the jaws of victory, and a lot of that was down to one decision from David Moyes.
The Scottish tactician opted to bring Arthur Masuaku into the game when there were just 15 minutes left in the clash with his side 3-1 up at home. However, that decision was shambolic, as the Seagulls got at the Congolese defender at every chance they could and clawed their way back into it to claim a point.
Now, though, the Hammers are back in action as they face both Manchester City away later today and then Liverpool away on the weekend, and these are games in which Masuaku simply cannot be starting or even featuring in, and it needs to be the more reliable Aaron Cresswell who plays these two games out.
Supposedly, Masuaku is the better of the two when going forward and attacking owing to his pace, but Cresswell has bagged himself three goals in the Premier League this season (Transfermarkt), including a fantastic strike against Manchester United at the London Stadium from a free-kick.
We don’t think that the difference between winning or losing against Man City and Liverpool comes down to who starts out of Cresswell or Masuaku, but for Moyes to give himself the best chance of recording a result against one of the Premier League heavyweights, Cresswell has to be the man starting.
Who's the better left-back?
Masuaku
Cresswell
When the Irons go into their games against teams who are in and around them in the table, the added pace of Masuaku going forward could be vital and those are the games he can feature in, but for these tough clashes, Cresswell has to be the man.
