AFC Bournemouth Match Preview

West Ham United remain in the Premier League’s relegation zone but after the 3-2 home win over newly-promoted Burnley before the break for November’s international fixtures, they are level on points with the Clarets. However, providing Scott Parker’s men fail to beat Chelsea in the day’s early kick-off, the Hammers have the chance to move out of the bottom three with maximum points against AFC Bournemouth at The Vitality Stadium.

The Irons will be looking for their first success on the road since August 31 this weekend and, after their first win here came back in January 2016, history shows that the team have a good record in Dorset, meaning Nuno Espírito Santo could finally be about to get his first win over Andoni Iraola?

After suffering consecutive away defeats to both Manchester City and Aston Villa, Bournemouth may now have their home record derailed, as the visitors will be full of confidence and hopeful of extending their unbeaten run, given that they have not tasted defeat here since 2019. Having said that though, they will be wary of the home form shown by Iraola’s side who have gone unbeaten in their last five in front of their own supporters.

This will be the second meeting between the two sides this season. They met as part of the Premier League Summer Series in Atlanta back on August 3, when former West Ham Head-Coach Graham Potter helped his side to a 2-0 triumph. The travelling support will hope that a repeat is on the cards here to keep their current momentum going.

After replacing David Moyes in the summer of 2024, Julen Lopetegui was denied the chance to claim back-to-back wins for only the second time in his short reign by a very late equaliser in a 1-1 draw last December, meaning the last West Ham victory here was in April 2023 when the Scotsman took the helm for a 4-0 success.

Espírito Santo was not giving too much away in terms of team news when he conducted his pre-match news conference ahead of this game on Thursday. However, despite having to be replaced due to a suspected hamstring injury last time out, midfielder Freddie Potts confirmed in an interview with the club’s official podcast earlier this week that the injury wasn’t as bad as first feared and he would be available for the trip, as it only turned out to be a dead leg.

Soungoutou Magassa is in contention for a start in midfield, as Lucas Paquetá has to serve a one-match suspension for picking up his fifth booking of the season last time out.

With ongoing doubts over the fitness of striker Niclas Füllkrug, it is expected that Callum Wilson will retain his place against his former club, thus starting a third consecutive game in attack.

The match is a 3pm kick-off and the referee is Thomas Bramall.