There will be continued improvement at West Ham United under Nuno Espírito Santo, believes The Standard's Sam Tabuteau, and there is confidence he can steer the Hammers away from the bottom three.

Brentford's trip to London Stadium will be Nuno's third game as head coach - his first at home, which will be shown live on Sky Sports - after an away draw and defeat to Everton and Arsenal, respectively.

And, after time with some of his squad over the international break, there is a belief that there will be an upturn in West Ham's form, particularly defensively, moving forward.

West Ham are in the Premier League relegation zone as football returns following the October international break, with just one win from seven so far. What have you made of their start?

It has been a difficult season; there is no getting away from that.

Graham Potter was on thin ice - almost from the get-go, really - given the way they started, and his sacking always felt inevitable. But a gripe West Ham fans have, in particular, is the timing of his departure.

Being given a press conference to take questions, after a full week of training, only to be sacked the next day, has left a bit of a sour taste.

But Nuno Espírito Santo has come in, and people expect West Ham’s fortunes to turn around, with an improvement defensively.

West Ham have the worst defensive record in the league right now. They are conceding a lot from corners, conceding a lot of headers, and that is something Nuno is obviously quite keen to improve upon.

The season has also been marred by a lot of protests off the field from supporters against the board, which has all added to this atmosphere of uncertainty and disruption. It has been quite chaotic.

Like you mentioned, Nuno Espírito Santo replaced Graham Potter after the latter won just six of his 25 games in charge of the Hammers. What has the reaction to Nuno’s appointment been like?

With Nuno, there is a lot of optimism. People respect what he has done in the game. They also appreciate that a manager of that calibre is going to come into West Ham and get a reaction out of these players, almost straightaway.

He is quite straight-talking about what he wants to see from his team, and he did not hold back when they lost to Arsenal before the international break. He just said, straight up, that it was a poor performance and they really have to work on almost every aspect of their game if they are to turn around their fortunes.

In terms of an appointment, no one is particularly upset about that. There is a lot of respect for Nuno, but the issue is that there is an overriding uncertainty about the future of the club - is he a long-term appointment or just there to secure Premier League safety and act as another troubleshooter?

Have you seen enough to suggest that, with a new manager in charge, West Ham can start to distance themselves from a relegation battle?

When you have players like Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paquetá, you always stand a chance; no one is doubting that there is quality within West Ham's squad.

The main thing is that they have to become more solid because they have been far too leaky at the back.

There is a confidence West Ham can steer themselves away from relegation trouble, but the more pressing question is: what's next? That has always been the case at West Ham.

No one doubts the talent within the squad, but what they do doubt is the identity and the ability to look one/two/three years in advance and see a plan in place. That is the main worry.

Which player should Brentford be keeping an eye out for on Monday night?

Bowen and Paquetá are well-known to Premier League fans already so, other than those two, the one player to look out for is El Hadji Malick Diouf at left-back.

He has got an unbelievable delivery off his left foot and he is full of running and energy.

In a season of great uncertainty for West Ham, he has been a constant and has been markedly consistent given everything that is happening around him.

What should Keith Andrews’ men expect in terms of shape and style?

I think it is going to be a four-man defence. It is going to be predicated on being solid and being defensively strong. But, also, it is about being able to spring those counters and attack with pace, which they showed with their equalising goal against Everton.

That was a really fast break forward in which Malick Diouf bombs down the flank, crosses, the ball eventually breaks to Bowen, and he scores. That is the type of goal that they will be looking to replicate.

Against Arsenal, it was a little bit of a different game. They were coming up against the league leaders, so they sat in and probably showed a bit more defensively.

In terms of what Nuno will want consistently, it is to be defensively strong, but also being able to break forward with pace. He has spoken about it a lot.

The key thing he says is about finding that balance; they have to find the balance between defence and attack. They cannot attack without having a solid defensive base. That is the most important thing for him.

What’s your score prediction?

I am going to go for 2-2. An entertaining draw.