Alvaro Arbeloa claimed West Ham "are not a Championship team" as his Fulham side for their EFL Cup tie.

Fulham's only win under Arbeloa this season has come in the EFL Cup, defeating Wimbledon 3-0 in the previous round, though the Cottagers did hold Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield on Saturday.

The only previous EFL Cup meeting between West Ham and Fulham was in the 1974-75 third round, a 2-1 win for the Cottagers.

Fulham have won two of their last three away games at West Ham in all competitions (L1), more than their previous 13 prior (W1 D4 L8).

However, the Hammers, who sit top of the second tier, have scored more goals than any other side across the first and second rounds of this season's EFL Cup (seven), beating Portsmouth 3-1 and Southampton 4-1, and Arbeloa knows his former side pose a big threat to Fulham.

"An away game in another difficult stadium, against a team that are performing so well," said Arbeloa.

"They won their last game 6-0 [against Wrexham], they beat Southampton in the EFL Cup, also, so we know them.

"They are a difficult team with top players. Even some of them have Premier League level [experience], so for me they are not a Championship team. If we want to beat them, we need to perform so well."

Fulham have progressed from seven of their last eight EFL Cup ties against lower league opponents, including their last four in a row since a 15-16 penalty shoot-out defeat to Preston in the 2024-25 third round – the highest scoring shoot-out in the tournament’s history.

"For me, we want to win all the games, so the target for us is to win the game, because if we don't win the game, we are out of the competition," Arbeloa added.

"So, we know that it’s a final for us. It's very important to beat them and to try to go to the next round."