AFC Bournemouth Match Preview

Monday currently seems to be a lucky day for West Ham United, as their last two wins have been on this day. They are in action again tonight, as they go to The Vitality Stadium to face AFC Bournemouth.

It’s another clash under the lights for the Irons and they will be aiming to replicate their recent success at Newcastle United and claim another triumph on their travels.

This will be the second time that the Irons have come up against Andoni Iraola’s men this season after knocking them out of the Carabao Cup back on August 28.

The hosts have had slightly more time to prepare for this game, as they travelled to newly-promoted Ipswich Town eight days ago and took maximum points from Portman Road. It is fair to say that Iraola’s side may have momentum with them but we all know that in football, it depends what happens on any given day. The visitors will certainly hope that it is them that come out on top here.

After seeing his team beat his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers a week ago, Head-Coach Julen Lopetegui will hope that his team can build on that result and finally start a run of consistent form.

Following this encounter, the next away fixture sees the Hammers make a return to the South Coast and face newly-promoted Southampton on Boxing Day.

Vladimír Coufal is likely to cover for the suspended Emerson Palmieri, who received a fifth booking of the season in the last match. Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Cresswell are also available for selection.

Lopetegui stated in his pre-match news conference ahead of the game on Friday that striker Niclas Füllkrug is now fully fit and may replace Michail Antonio in the starting line-up. The Jamaican international is continuing to recover from a lower limb fracture, following a car accident nine days earlier.

The match is an 8pm kick-off and live coverage will be screened by Sky Sports with build-up beginning at 6:30pm. The referee is Christopher Kavanagh.