West Ham continue their chase of European football as David Moyes’ Hammers host relegation battling Burnley at the London Stadium.
Victory would see West Ham climb to fifth in the table, whereas Burnley will stay 18th with a win but move to within a point of safety.
Team News
West Ham have no fresh injury concerns to report following Thursday’s Europa League victory away at Lyon, although David Moyes could rotate his squad with Nikola Vlasic in contention to start.
Kurt Zouma (ankle) and Angelo Ogbonna (knee) remain absent.
Burnley could welcome Erik Pieters back into contention after the defender recovered from a knee injury.
Ben Mee (knock) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (calf) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- West Ham have lost three of their last six meetings against Burnley (W2, D1, L3).
- Burnley have won two of five previous visits to the London Stadium (W2, L3).
- Each of the last two meetings in East London have been settled by 1-0 results with both teams winning once apiece.
- David Moyes’ Hammers have scored first in six of their seven league matches at home in 2022 (W5, D1, L1), with exception of their 3-2 loss against Leeds in January.
- Burnley have lost each of their last two away matches by 2-0 results against Brentford and Norwich respectively.
Prediction
Having emphatically stunned Lyon on Thursday evening in a clinical display despite getting outplayed in possession and attack, West Ham will be coming into this game on a huge high but this is a must-win after slip-ups for Tottenham and Arsenal earlier this weekend.
I though do expect some rotation but if the Hammers can play like they did in Lyon but on the front foot this time with dominant control, there is no reason why they can’t win this and put themselves right back into the top-four fight.
Burnley meanwhile will be an interesting team to watch now Sean Dyche has surprisingly gone but if they can rediscover their fighting spirit from the win over Everton and finish their chances better, I reckon that they could deliver a better fight than their lacklustre effort at Norwich last Sunday.
The West Ham crowds though are going to be electric following Thursday’s success and I wouldn’t be surprised if that drives the players forward, although they must play the game and not the atmosphere which will be crucial.
Prediction: West Ham 2-1 Burnley
Result: West Ham 1-1 Burnley
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