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Fabian Balbuena quickly established himself as one of West Ham United's first-choice centre-backs last season following his arrival at the London Stadium in the summer of 2018, playing the full 90 minutes in their opening 14 Premier League matches, according to Transfermarkt.
His partnership with Issa Diop at the heart of the east London outfit's backline flourished, and he drew plenty of praise from supporters on Twitter as a result as he became a no-nonsense favourite.
However, a knee injury suffered against Watford in December 2018 kept him on the sidelines until he made his return to the starting XI at Stamford Bridge in April, starting the remaining six Premier League matches of the campaign.
When he started against Manchester City on the opening day last month it appeared as though manager Manuel Pellegrini was once again ready to place his trust in the Paraguayan, who ended 2018/19 with 23 Premier League starts under his belt, leaving Angelo Ogbonna as back-up.
A 5-0 defeat against Pep Guardiola's side actually led to the 28-year-old being dropped however, and his Italian teammate has gone from strength to strength.
He captained the Irons in their very next game away at Brighton, and has played the full 90 minutes in their subsequent three top flight matches since.
The latest of those was the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa on Monday night, where the 31-year-old was tasked with dealing with a potential handful in Wesley.
In the opening 45 minutes especially, Ogbonna dealt with the Brazilian better than partner Diop according to Football London, with the latter struggling against his physical presence.
Another clean sheet meant that the Italian has been part of a defence that not only has helped the club go on an unbeaten four-match run, but has also only conceded twice.
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Ogbonna's match rating of 8/10 from Football London shows the huge strides he continues to make having made a regular return to the starting XI, and Balbuena looks to face an almighty task to win the spot back.
On current form Pellegrini can't drop the former Juventus man, while the Manchester United-linked Diop appears unlikely to be left out anytime soon either.
That isn't great news for Balbuena then, who could be the big loser at West Ham in the coming weeks and months.