West Ham have been dealt a devastating injury blow right as the international break gets underway...

What's the latest?

As revealed by The Athletic, Irons defender Angelo Ogbonna has sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury after he was withdrawn just 22 minutes into their impressive 3-2 win over Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

The 33-year-old colossus had a scan on Monday that confirmed the bad news that he had suffered an ACL injury in his right knee. He is now set to see a specialist later this week.

No timeframe has been put on his recovery process but according to football.london reporter Tom Clark, the best-case scenario would be only three months out, though it could end up being longer than 9 months - a disappointing prospect with his contract due to expire in the summer.

Major setback

Ogbonna has started all 11 of the Hammers' top-flight outings this campaign, which only goes to show his importance to David Moyes and his side.

He has been an absolute rock in the heart of the defence, managing 3.63 clearances, 1.27 tackles and 1.18 interceptions per 90, on top of an 87% passing accuracy and 7.84 recoveries per game, as per Matchday365.

The Scotsman does have alternative options available in Issa Diop and Craig Dawson, the latter of which came in and deputised efficiently, so he may not need to worry too much. But he isn't one to alter his Premier League starting XI too much and this blow hands him a dilemma over who to select instead.

Ogbonna is one of eight players to have started every single top-flight game this campaign and that goes to show how Moyes relies on the same players each and every week, only further emphasising how big a setback this really is.

"Such a huge blow that Angelo Ogbonna sustained an ACL injury in [the] win against Liverpool. He formed a solid defensive partnership with Zouma," claimed The Athletic's Roshane Thomas shortly after the news.

All in all, everyone around the London Stadium will be gutted to hear this development and it puts a dampener on their promising season thus far.

AND in other news, Forget Zouma: "Incredible" £42k-p/w WHU beast who won 100% duels stole the show vs Liverpool...