West Ham’s run for a cup starts at home

West Ham United have found out their first opponent in their journey to win a cup for the first time since 1980 (sorry the Betway Cup and Championship Playoff don’t count).

The Hammers will face AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday, August 28 at 7:45 pm in the London Stadium.

The Carabao Cup match (more typically called the League Cup) will be the first step in new manager Manuel Pellegrini’s quest to bring cup glory back to East London. The Chilean manager has plenty of experience winning League Cups in England having won the League Cup twice with Manchester City in 2013-14 and 2015-16.

This Hammer fan would love for us to make deep cup runs this season and even win one. It’d be a huge lift in the club’s spirits to be able to hoist a piece of meaningful silverware after many years of despair.

Last year West Ham made it to the League Cup quarterfinals before losing to Arsenal in a deflating 1-0 loss.

This is just the second time that West Ham have faced AFC Wimbledon and the Hammers will likely give a few young players the chance to get pitch time. Last year’s cup run gave Domingos Quina, Sead Haksabanovic, and Nathan Holland quite a bit of playing time.

Hopefully West Ham can use these games to bring along some of the young players and keep enthusiasm high after a difficult opening match. Clearly West Ham have work to do and the League Cup games give a perfect opportunity to refine their game.