West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic looks to be on the brink of losing his job following the demoralising 3-0 defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion at the London Stadium on Friday, and he will know that the clash against bottom-of-the-table Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday is likely make or break.

While the Irons had shown an improvement in results and performances following a disappointing start to the campaign in which they lost their opening three Premier League matches, everything that is wrong with the team right now seemed to be highlighted in the reverse against the Seagulls.

The result left the Hammers in 16th position and they are only above the relegation zone on goal difference at this relatively early stage of the season.

The trip to Palace is hugely important with the Eagles winning one and losing eight of their first nine fixtures, scoring just two goals in the process, but West Ham will need to significantly improve if they are to pick up a positive result.

Here are three huge problems Bilic must deal with before the trip to Selhurst Park…

Defensive issues

Only Stoke City and bottom side Crystal Palace have conceded more than the 17 West Ham have let in so far this season, and that disappointing defensive record has to change – starting at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

The main target against the goal-shy Eagles must be to keep a clean sheet, and Slaven Bilic has to work out how he can ensure that happens during training this week.

The back four of Pablo Zabaleta, Jose Fonte, Winston Reid and Arthur Masuaku were simply not good enough in the 3-0 defeat to the Seagulls, while Joe Hart should have done better with the second goal.

With Pablo Obiang and Cheikhou Kouyate also struggling in front of the backline, there is much improvement to be made before the weekend.

Motivating Marko

Considering he is West Ham's club-record signing, Arnautovic's performance against Brighton was perhaps more disappointing than some of his teammates.

The Austria international looked lethargic and lazy against the Seagulls rather than being the player that is able to make a difference in the final third, and he was booed off by the London Staadium faithful when he was replaced by Edimilson Fernandes in the 74th minute.

His failure to score or pick up an assist means that he still has more red cards than either of those things in the Premier League this season, and Slaven Bilic has to motivate the 28-year-old to put in an influential display at Selhurst Park – whether that comes from the start or the substitutes' bench.

Attacking shortcomings

Bilic has Javier Hernandez, Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho available to him up top, but the Irons boss still hasn't worked out an effective partnership or system that works for any of those players.

While the latter duo missed the clash against Brighton through suspension and injury, West Ham still would have expected to have had enough firepower to score at home to the Seagulls, but Arnautovic and Michail Antonio once again came up short.

Hernandez clearly doesn’t suit the lone striker role that he played against Chris Hughton’s side, and his teammates continually threw crosses into the box even though it was him waiting on the end of them rather than Carroll.

Bilic must quickly find a settled formation and style of play that can get the most out of Hernandez and Carroll to ensure that his side pick up a vital three points at Selhurst Park.

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