Since his arrival at Manchester City, West Ham United have been haunted by Erling Haaland. The Norwegian goal machine had plundered 11 goals in just seven previous Premier League meetings with the Hammers, including a brace in Manchester City’s comfortable 3-0 win at the Etihad back in December 2025. But on a sun-drenched afternoon at the London Stadium last weekend, everything changed.
Manager Nuno Espírito Santo made a bold tactical call: abandon the back-four shape that had been his default all season and switch to a 3-4-2-1 formation. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf operated as energetic wing-backs, while a rock-solid central trio of Axel Disasi, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo formed the heart of the defence. The result? A hard-fought 1-1 draw, Bernardo Silva’s first-half chip cancelled out by Mavropanos’s towering header from a corner – and, crucially, Haaland left completely scoreless for the first time in West Ham’s recent history against him.
The numbers tell the story of defensive dominance. City dominated possession and fired 24 shots, but only one of them was on target from Haaland. The Norwegian superstar, usually a constant menace, was reduced to peripheral status. Time and again, the back three snuffed out danger before it could develop. And at the centre of it all stood Axel Disasi.
Disasi the Difference
The French centre-back, on loan from Chelsea, has been the game-changer West Ham desperately needed. Disasi arrived in the winter window and instantly brought organisation, communication and aerial authority to a previously leaky rearguard. Those who watched his Chelsea days weren’t surprised. In February 2024, he produced what Jamie Carragher called a “man-of-the-match, best-player-on-the-pitch” display against City, making a staggering 16 clearances and rendering Haaland anonymous in a 1-1 draw. Fast-forward two years and the script repeated itself on Saturday. Disasi marshalled the line with calm authority, winning duels, intercepting passes and ensuring Haaland never found the space to turn and shoot. Nuno couldn’t hide his delight: “Axel has brought something special. He’s an additional option who has done really well.” His integration has elevated everyone around him.
Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo are playing the best football of their West Ham careers. Mavropanos, whose viral face-block of a thunderous late Haaland strike summed up the heroic spirit on show, has undergone a full revival. The Greek international not only scored the equaliser but threw his body on the line repeatedly, earning praise from teammate Tomas Soucek: “We have to be like that and fight for our lives. Dinos is a strong guy.” Todibo, meanwhile, has looked every bit the composed, ball-playing centre-back West Ham hoped for when they signed him from Nice. Compact, aggressive, and positionally excellent, the French duo with Disasi formed a wall that City simply couldn’t break down.
"“Defensively it was heroic… a lot of sacrifice, a lot of bodies on the line. We defended very well, really, really compact.”"West Ham Manager Nuno Espírito Santo
Nuno himself was effusive afterwards: “Defensively it was heroic… a lot of sacrifice, a lot of bodies on the line. We defended very well, really, really compact.” The switch to three at the back wasn’t just a one-off experiment – it was a survival formula that moved the Hammers temporarily out of the bottom three.
How will they line up vs. Aston Villa on Sunday 22 March at Villa Park?
Villa sit firmly in the top-four hunt under Unai Emery, boasting a dangerous attacking unit led by Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and a creative midfield that loves to overload central areas. But after the blueprint that worked so brilliantly against the champions, Nuno is almost certain to stick with the same system – or a flexible variation of it.
Expect the same back three of Disasi, Mavropanos, and Todibo, with Wan-Bissaka and Diouf again providing width and defensive cover as wing-backs. The formation gives West Ham numerical superiority in midfield, allows them to absorb pressure, and – crucially – creates set-piece threats (Mavropanos has already shown he can be a goal threat from corners). It also lets Jarrod Bowen and the front line focus on counter-attacking, exactly the kind of pragmatic, disciplined football that has transformed West Ham’s season since the turn of the year.
Disasi’s leadership, Mavropanos’s never-say-die attitude and Todibo’s composure will once again be the foundation. If the trio can replicate their heroics from the City game, West Ham have every chance of frustrating Villa and picking up another vital point in their fight for Premier League survival.
The back-three experiment wasn’t just a tactical tweak – it was a statement. West Ham have found a system that works. Now they must prove it can beat the best… and keep them alive.