West Ham will welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the London Olympic Stadium this Saturday in their ninth round fixture of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
Venue: London Stadium (London)
Key Statistics
West Ham have won just one of their league games this season (D1, L5).
They have scored just the feast goals in the league this season (three goals, level with Wolves).
The hosts have lost just one of their last four home games (W2, D1).
Wolves have failed to score in their last two away games.
They are winless in their last seven away league games (D2, L5).
Head to head
In 12 Premier League meetings between both sides, Wolves have six wins while West Ham have five wins.
Latest performances in all competitions
West Ham: L-W-W-L-D
Wolves: L-W-D-D-W
West Ham
West Ham United will be looking to turn a new leaf as the Premier League makes a return after two weeks of the international break.
The Hammers have started the season rather poorly, picking up four points out of a possible 21 after seven rounds of football and a relegation zone placement to show for it.
David Moyes will have welcomed the international break as there was mounting pressure on him to turn things around. The Scottish manager knows too well that his job is at risk if the bad form were to continue.
The lack of firepower up front has been a major bane for the Hammers this season who have the worst goal output in the League with just three goals, especially with the likes of Michael Antonio, Jared Bowen and Gianluca Scamacca all struggling for form, with the Jamaican the only one to register a single goal in the League out of the trio.
However, West Ham United have had the upper hand in this fixture in recent games, winning three out of their last five encounters and will be looking to get another when the visitors roll into town. But a win against a disciplined Wolves’ side who have conceded an average of one goal per match will take everything from Moyes’ side, given their attacking frailties.
Possible West Ham starting line-up
Lukasz Fabianski; Thilo Kehrer, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell; Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice, Pablo Fornals; Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen; Michail Antonio.
Injured: Nayef Aguerd, Ben Johnson
Doubtful: Aaron Cresswell, Craig Dawson, Gianluca Scamacca
Suspended: None
Wolves
Wolves, on the other hand, have not been able to convert their good performance and resolute defending into results, with just one win in seven games.
And so, Bruno Lage’s men come into this tie sitting in 17th place, two points off the relegation spots.
They succumbed to a 0-3 defeat to Manchester City in their last outing before the international break, a game in which Nathan Collins picked up a straight red card for a rash challenge on Jack Grealish, which will ultimately rule him out of the trip to the London Stadium.
Wolves have been guilty of playing well only to fall short at the final third in so many of their games this season, and in the game against City, Bruno Lage’s team created ample opportunities to pull on back but just could not find the right pass to pull the trigger.
The international break will have presented a good chance for the Portuguese coach to bring his new signing, former Chelsea striker Diego Costa to speed as the Spanish striker will be expected to provide the much-needed goals for the Wolverhampton side.
Wolves will greatly fancy their chances of getting a good result against the Hammers but must find a way to convert their chances against a David Moyes side who will be looking to make a comeback from their early season troubles.
Possible Wolves starting line-up
Jose Sa; Jonny, Yerson Mosquera, Max Kilman, Rayan Ait-Nouri; Ruben Neves, Matheus Nunes, João Moutinho; Pedro Neto, Goncalo Guedes, Daniel Podence.
Injured: Diego Costa, Sasa Kalajdzic, Raul Jimenez
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Nathan Collins
Prediction
West Ham 0-0 Wolves
