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‘Pukki demonstrates the Premier League is not difficult for him’ - Hammers’ chief a big fan of City ace
Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki is a dangerman for West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini knows the Hammers need to find a plan to deal with Norwich City’s five-goal hot shot Teemu Pukki.
Pukki goes into this weekend's Premier League game at the London Stadium leading the top flight goal charts, following a prolific start to the new campaign.
Pellegrini warns Daniel Farke's new boys should not be under-estimated.
"I think Pukki is demonstrating that the Premier League is not difficult for him. He's scoring goals and we will need to be careful of him," he said, speaking at his pre-match press call on Thursday lunchtime. "When you have a change in competition, there is always some players who feel the difference. "I expect a similar game to the one we played against Watford.
"Norwich play this system and they played exactly the same way against Chelsea and Liverpool. They are a very good team and we will need to play a very good game to get the three points.
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"We had to play three games away in a row. We won two of them and got one draw, which gives us more confidence in what we're doing. Now we want to win our first home game."
The Hammers have bounced back well from an opening weekend 5-0 defeat to champions Manchester City with a draw at Brighton and an away win at Watford before beating Newport 2-0 in the Carabao Cup.
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Sebastian Haller will be the hosts' main goal threat after getting off the mark with a brace in the 3-1 victory against Watford. Jack Wilshere was also on target in the midweek cup win but Pellegrini feels both have plenty more to give.
"I think Haller will improve a lot, because it takes time to learn the Premier League. But scoring two goals in a game, especially after coming back from a small injury, will help him a lot," said the Chilean.
"I said last week that we can't expect Jack to be back 100pc to his level because of his lengthy injury. He played very well the other night, not only because he scored. We will see what the starting XI will be for Saturday."
