Roshane Thomas, West Ham United correspondent for The Athletic, insists that Brentford must devise a plan for in-form forward Jarrod Bowen ahead of the Hammers’ visit to Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

A left-footed, inverted right winger, Bowen has seven goal contributions in 10 Premier League appearances this season (six goals and one assist).

West Ham are ninth in the Premier League. What have you made of their season so far?

West Ham made an encouraging start to the season, with 3-1 wins over Chelsea and Brighton following a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on the opening day. The 2-1 win at Luton on 1 September was their third victory in succession.

However, the feel-good factor is starting to ebb away slightly after three successive losses against Aston Villa, Olympiacos in the Europa League and Everton.

As cliché as it sounds, it is important for West Ham to regain their momentum quickly so they can mount a serious challenge for a top-six spot.

The Hammers have only managed to keep two clean sheets in 14 games in all competitions so far this term. Why do you think there has been a drop-off in that respect?

The lack of clean sheets is a huge concern for West Ham. The 2-0 win over Sheffield United on 30 September was the first time Moyes’ side had managed to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League since the 1-0 win over Manchester United at London Stadium on 7 May and they had only kept eight in 34 games before that.

Having been a defender during his playing days, Moyes prides himself on his team being difficult to break down, but teams have had success in exploiting frailties in defence in recent weeks.

With this being West Ham’s third-straight season playing in Europe, how much do they value having another competition with which to distract themselves if things are not necessarily going the way they’d like in the league?

Last season is a case in point in that respect. Were it not for the Europa Conference League, they would certainly have struggled to stay in the Premier League. It was a welcome distraction and one West Ham used to their advantage by both avoiding relegation and winning the competition outright.

However, following the summer additions of Mohammed Kudus, Edson Álvarez, James Ward-Prowse and Konstantinos Mavropanos to the squad, more will be expected of them in the league this season.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on?

Jarrod Bowen. He is the club’s top scorer with six goals and has provided an assist as well. The winger is in incredible form at the moment and deservedly received an England recall last month, earning his fifth cap against Australia.

How is David Moyes likely to set up his side at the Gtech?

It is Moyes’ preference to play a 4-2-3-1 formation with a starting XI of Alphonse Areola, Vladimír Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson Palmieri, James Ward-Prowse, Edson Álvarez, Lucas Paquetá, Tomáš Souček, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio.

It would be a huge surprise if he were to alter his formation for the Brentford game, although his hand is forced in terms of personnel with Álvarez and Paquetá suspended for Saturday’s game against Brentford.

Brentford have won all four of the Premier League meetings to date, with West Ham taking the most recent FA Cup meeting between the teams. What’s your score prediction?

It will certainly be a tough encounter, mainly because Brentford have become West Ham’s bogey team. With that in mind, a draw would be a good result.