Wolverhampton Wanderers Match Preview
Up until last season, West Ham United had not beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers since the ill-fated era of Avram Grant in the 2010/11 season and this afternoon, David Moyes takes his side to Molineux for the first of two consecutive Premier League away games.
They will arrive in the Black Country seeking a third straight win against Wolves having completed the double over them last term. Wolves were then under the stewardship of Nuno Espírito Santo.
This will be the first 3pm kick-off to involve the Hammers since they came from behind to secure a late 2-1 victory at Leeds United back on 25 September.
The East Londoners ended Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the campaign last time out with a 3-2 victory in Stratford before the international break and they will want to continue their own good form on the road with another success here.
Following the departure of Espírito Santo from the West Midlands back in May, the Molineux hierarchy began the search for a new Head-Coach and finally turned to former Benfica boss Bruno Lage, who joined the club on 16 June.
It would be fair to say that Lage has endured an indifferent start to the campaign and the Irons will want to pile more misery on their opponents after the hosts lost 2-0 at Crystal Palace on 6 November.
Angelo Ogbonna had to be substituted in the early stages of the match against Jürgen Klopp’s Reds a fortnight ago, after an elbow to the face. Further examination revealed that the Italian defender had also suffered cruciate ligament damage and is therefore unavailable, meaning Craig Dawson is most likely to fill in in his absence.
It is well known that a number of the Development Squad have featured in the first-team setup this season but one player who won’t be involved is Kai Corbett, as he left the club on Monday having secured a permanent move to Sky Bet Championship outfit Peterborough United.
This weekend’s referee at Molineux will be Mike Dean.