West Ham’s penultimate game before Christmas sees Wolves visit the London Stadium for what should be a classic Premier League encounter.
A challenging game awaits whenever these two clubs meet, and it won’t be any different for their first league clash of the 2023/24 season. West Ham and Wolverhampton Wanderers have had to wrestle away underperforming spells recently when they flirted with relegation. Still, their subsequent encounter will feature different prospects for the teams.
A Daniel Podence goal helped Wolves to end a four-game losing run at home the last time they faced West Ham, and they will now be looking for a first victory away at West Ham since June 2020.
The Hammers ended the last campaign with a resounding victory in the UEFA Europa Conference League final. The confidence from that triumph was evident as they made an excellent start to the current season.
Despite Bournemouth securing a point with a late equalizer in the opening game of the campaign, West Ham beat Chelsea and Brighton 3-1 consecutively and made it an undefeated first four league games with another victory via a 2-1 scoreline against Luton Town.
David Moyes’ side lost their next two games 3-1 to Manchester City and Liverpool, but that is understandable given the quality of the opposition; the Hammers instead gained some credit for their resilient performances. The following two games against Sheffield United and Newcastle United yielded four points, then they struggled for results.
The return since the October international break has brought a 4-1 spanking at Aston Villa, a 2-1 European defeat to Olympiacos, and a single-goal loss at home to struggling Everton.
Those successive defeats have ramped up the pressure on the Hammers boss, who must rally his team for crucial fixtures in the winter months.
West Ham must push higher up the table while maintaining a solid campaign in the Europa League, and they must quickly address this slump in results before it derails what started as a promising season.
The Irons are still in the top half of the league table in ninth position, but Wolves are only two points behind in 12th.
It is always a keenly contested match when West Ham plays Wolves; notably, the home side has won this fixture in the last two seasons.
The hosts know they cannot depend on their home advantage alone, as the Wolves can beat them on any day.
Wolves have been very impressive so far, with their fortunes firmly on the up despite preparations for the season being disrupted by manager Julen Lopetgui’s dismissal on the campaign’s eve.
Gary O’Neil replaced the Spaniard, having himself left Bournemouth in shock following his successful job of keeping them in the top flight this season. Meanwhile, he had only four days before leading out the West Midlanders for his first game in charge.
Two tough defeats against Manchester United and Brighton were endured before they finally got it right by beating Everton thanks to an 87th-minute header from Sasa Kalajdzic. A failure to control favorable in-game situations cost them defeats against Crystal Palace and Liverpool, while they drew 1-1 at Luton Town with a man down.
However, Wolves’ season kicked into life as they became the first team to beat Premier League champions Manchester City with a well-deserved 2-1 win at home then they shared the spoils with rivals Aston Villa. Kalajdzic was the match-winner again when Wolves beat Bournemouth in O’Neil’s return to the South Coast, and they went toe-to-toe with Newcastle in an exciting 2-2 draw.
The Wanderers will now face their next opponents with adequate belief in their ability to beat any side on their day. Credit is due to their Head Coach, who has made his team more proactive across the park.
Having been the lowest scorers in the entire league with 31 goals from 38 matches last term, O’Neil’s side is now one of the most aggressive off the ball, and they are seeing the rewards with more attacking entries when they win possession high up the pitch.
Wolves will also be banking on an innate ability to beat West Ham because they have been victorious in six of their ten encounters since their return to the Premier League in 2018/19. They have every reason to look forward to maximum points in East London.
Match tickets
The festive mood will be well on by the time this match takes place on Sunday, 17 December 2023, with kick-off at 3 PM UK time. Match tickets are available on each club’s website but should quickly be sold out, considering the Premier League is the only place to watch football around Christmas.
Hence, the London Stadium would be packed as more than 62,000 will battle for West Ham vs Wolves tickets. The game promises an absorbing encounter between two teams fighting to establish themselves above mid-table in the league.
Given the heightened interest in the match due to the time of year in London, it will be difficult to find tickets through official sources, so supporters may have to make do with theirs from a ticket resale site.
Team news
West Ham have minimal fitness worries, with Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell the only injury doubts, yet they could be available when this game comes around.
Hugo Bueno and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde are injured but could be back to feature against West Ham. At the same time, Pedro Neto may still be sidelined with a hamstring injury he picked up against Newcastle United.
Line-ups
Wolves are one of Jarrod Bowen’s favorite Premier League opponents, having netted four times in his last six games against them. The Hammers livewire will again look to win the game for the home side.
There will be a crucial battle in the engine room with Edson Alvarez and Tomas Soucek forming a pivot behind James Ward-Prowse. Since joining Southampton, the latter has been a revelation, and his set-piece deliveries will be critical.
West Ham United: Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Alvarez, Soucek; Bowen, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Antonio
O’Neil has settled on a 3-4-3 system that brings out the best in his Wolves players with proper balance in the attacking and defensive phases.
Former West Ham center-back Craig Dawson is a crucial cog in the Wolves defense that will look to shut down the Hammers, while Hwang Hee-Chan is the first Wolves player in 50 years to score six goals in the first ten games of a top-flight season.
Wolves: Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Toti; Semedo, Gomes, Lemina, Ait-Nouri; Neto, Cunha, Hwang
Prediction
With both sides being aggressive and giving little away, this should be a physical contest decided by small margins.
West Ham, it must be said, are better at grinding out results from games and are more likely to see a win should they score first.
West Ham 1-1 Wolves
