Fulham Match Preview

After earning their first home Premier League win of the season against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend, West Ham United will look to clinch successive top-flight victories when newly-promoted Fulham visit Stratford for a London derby this afternoon.

The Hammers lifted themselves away from the bottom three eight days ago and are now hoping to build on that success and pull themselves further clear of danger.

David Moyes’ side won in Europe on Thursday night, beating Belgian outfit RSC Anderlecht. They will want to repeat the feat against the team who were victorious in the 1976 European Cup Winners Cup final in just five days time and securing three more points against Marco Silva’s men would maintain their momentum.

Fulham clearly want to have another go at survival in the top-flight and have made a more than adequate start to the campaign but they will be looking to bounce back after their last outing; a 4-1 home defeat to Newcastle United.

The East Londoners had a decent record against last season’s newly-promoted teams, as they achieved the double over both Norwich City and Watford but they lost on both occasions to Brentford. They have already lost to Sky Bet Championship play-off winners Nottingham Forest back in August so here’s hoping they can avoid another slip against the Cottagers.

History is in favour of the Irons in this particular fixture though, as the visitors have not experienced the winning feeling against today’s hosts since 2001.

Pablo Fornals was dropped to the bench last weekend as Moyes gave a first Premier League start to Maxwel Cornet. Unfortunately the Ivorian winger picked up a calf injury in the early stages of the encounter, meaning the Spaniard came on in his place. The midfielder is expected to come back into the starting line-up here though.

Goalkeepers Łukasz Fabiański and Alphonse Areola will battle for a starting place but the Frenchman could be handed a rare league start against the club he played for on loan in the 2020/21 campaign.

Defender Issa Diop may well be in the starting line-up and face a swift return to his former club after agreeing a switch to Craven Cottage at the start of August.

The match is a 2pm kick-off and the referee is Christopher Kavanagh.