West Ham once again prepare to begin life under David Moyes as they welcome Bournemouth to the London Stadium.
Depending on results earlier in the day, the Hammers could start this match in the relegation zone needing a win to climb to safety.
Bournemouth meanwhile know that three points will move them further away from the relegation zone, whereas defeat will see West Ham leapfrog them and an Aston Villa win at Burnley would send the Cherries into the bottom three.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesDavid Martin could return for West Ham after recovering from a muscle injury, which had still kept him out of their 2-1 defeat to Leicester on Saturday.
Jack Wilshire (groin) and Andriy Yarmolenko (hamstring) are ruled out.
Bournemouth could have Simon Francis available after he missed their last two games with a knee injury.
Adam Smith (ankle) and Nathan Ake (hamstring) are close to making first-team returns but won’t be risked until mid January at earliest.
Charlie Daniels (knee), Jack Stacey, Joshua King (both hamstring), Lloyd Kelly (thigh), David Brooks (ankle) and Arnaut Danjuma (foot) are all ruled out.
Stat Attack
- This is the 15th meeting in all competitions between these two teams, with West Ham unbeaten in ten of the previous 14 matches (W5, D5, L4).
- West Ham have won just two of nine Premier League meetings against Bournemouth (W2, D3, L4).
- Only two of nine Premier League clashes in this fixture saw one team fail to score, West Ham winning 1-0 in August 2016 then losing 2-0 at Bournemouth in January 2019.
- Callum Wilson has scored in each of his last three Bournemouth appearances against West Ham.
- Bournemouth have scored just one of three Premier League penalties won against the Hammers, who have won and scored two themselves.
Prediction
I have been disappointed by both teams because neither of them should be dangling around the relegation zone, given the quality of their squad who should be pushing for an Europa League placing.
Both teams also struggle to score goals but Bournemouth have been marginally better defensively, which is definitely going to be key here because I can see goals coming in this game.
One positive for the Hammers though is that they will be aware of Moyes’ gameplay from his previous stint, which will help them quickly adapt to his style than they would under a new manager.
I therefore fancy this to finish as a draw but if there is a winner, it will be down to whoever is the most clinical.
Prediction: West Ham 1-1 Bournemouth
Result: West Ham 4-0 Bournemouth
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