Fulham Match Preview

West Ham United generally bounce back after disappointing results and that is what they will have to do once again this afternoon when Fulham arrive for a London derby.

Prior to their UEFA Europa League quarter-final first-leg defeat to Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen, the Hammers picked up their third win of 2024 last Saturday, as they came from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 at Molineux, they will want to build on that success by getting another against Marco Silva’s men.

David Moyes side will definitely be looking to atone for suffering a 5-0 defeat in the reverse fixture back on 10 December.

As was the case with Gary O’Neill’s side eight days ago, the Irons will be wanting to take advantage of a side that are currently on a three-match losing streak and will hope to secure back-to-back Premier League victories, given that the West London side are yet to win in Stratford.

West Ham have only won once in front of their own fans this year and will see this game as the perfect chance to notch up a second. Having said that, the Cottagers will be the fresher of the two teams having had a full week to prepare.

Jarrod Bowen, Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio were on the scoresheet in this fixture last season, as the East Londoners came from behind to beat Silva’s side 3-1.

Bowen will have to be assessed ahead of the game but in his pre-match news conference ahead of the game on Friday, Moyes stated that he didn’t think that the winger would be available.

Nayef Aguerd may be called upon to return to the starting line-up here, as Konstantinos Mavropanos sustained a slight injury at the end of the encounter three days ago.

Edson Álvarez returns from suspension, meaning Aaron Cresswell may drop to the bench.

The Hammers’ boss also said that he is unsure about the fitness of goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

The match is a 2pm kick-off and the referee is Stuart Attwell.