Bidding to snap a four-game winless run across all competitions, West Ham United welcome Bournemouth to the London Stadium for Thursday's Premier League encounter.
The Hammers were forced to settle for a point in a 2-2 draw with Sheffield United two weekends ago, prior to the Cherries' 5-0 demolition of Swansea City in the FA Cup.
Match preview
Searching for their first victory of 2024 at the fifth time of asking this week, West Ham sought to redeem themselves at Bramall Lane after a chastening FA Cup exit at the hands of Championship outfit Bristol City, but a tale of two second-half penalties would not have a happy ending for the Irons.
After Maxwel Cornet and Blades new boy Ben Brereton Diaz had both registered in the first half, James Ward-Prowse harnessed his dead-ball expertise to crash home what would ostensibly be the game-winning spot kick, only for Oli McBurnie to also convert from 12 yards 13 minutes into second-half stoppage time.
Both teams were a man down by the time the final whistle signalled the end of a tempestuous and gripping Bramall Lane battle, although that draw was enough to see West Ham maintain their sixth-placed standing in the Premier League table, three points ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion thanks to Luton Town's astounding thrashing of the Seagulls.
Now without victory in any competition since producing a defensive masterclass against Arsenal on December 28, a West Ham side decimated by injuries and international call-ups - particularly in the final third - at least have a respectable home record to protect and extend on Thursday, having gone nine games unbeaten at the London Stadium.
Furthermore, each of the Hammers' last three Premier League home matches has seen Moyes's men keep a clean sheet, although not since the 2009-10 season have they recorded four successive home shutouts in the top flight, when Gianfranco Zola was the man at the Upton Park helm.
Across their last 540 minutes of Premier League home football, West Ham have let in a mere four goals, a tally which Bournemouth equalled in just 90 minutes when a Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez-inspired Liverpool paid a visit to the Vitality Stadium on January 21.
The 4-0 home hammering at the hands of the Reds made it back-to-back Premier League losses for Andoni Iraola's men, who also concluded 2023 with a comprehensive 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, leaving the Cherries 13th in the table thanks to Fulham's draw with Everton; the Cottagers are only ahead on goal difference having played two more games, though.
Barring those heavily expected losses to the Lilywhites and Liverpool, a rejuvenated Bournemouth will reflect on the winter period with unbridled positivity, and their eighth win from their last 11 games in all tournaments arrived when Swansea City made the trip to the South Coast for last Thursday's FA Cup tie.
Taking a leaf from Liverpool's attacking playbook, Bournemouth obliterated their Championship foes with a ruthless first-half display of attacking supremacy, as Lloyd Kelly, Alex Scott, Luis Sinisterra, David Brooks and Dominic Solanke all made the net bulge before both teams headed down the tunnel.
Iraola's men had also triumphed in four successive Premier League away matches before succumbing to Tottenham's superiority in December, but none of their last five games against West Ham has ended in victory, although a 1-1 Vitality draw in August ended the Irons' three-match winning sequence in this fixture.
Team News
On account of his injury-time sending-off for two bookable offences against Sheffield United, Vladimir Coufal will be absent from Thursday's game through suspension, while Said Benrahama is still serving his own ban from his red card in the FA Cup loss to Bristol City.
Morocco's Nayef Aguerd will soon be back from the Africa Cup of Nations, while Mohammed Kudus's Ghana suffered a gut-wrenching group-stage exit, meaning that the effervescent attacker should be back in contention for the visit of the Cherries.
With Edson Alvarez still doubtful with a calf injury, Manchester City loanee Kalvin Phillips has a chance of making his full debut for the Hammers straight away, but Lucas Paqueta (calf) and Michail Antonio (knee) remain in the infirmary.
As for Bournemouth, their five-star performance against Swansea in the FA Cup was partially marred by a serious-looking injury to defender James Hill, who was taken off in the 57th minute with what Iraola speculated to be a "high ankle sprain".
Hill's absence adds to Bournemouth's full-back crisis, as Max Aarons has also been ruled out for "some time" with a thigh problem, and ex-West Ham right-back Ryan Fredericks is also still on the mend from his long-term calf injury. Iraola has confirmed that Adam Smith will be in the squad, though.
Tyler Adams (thigh) and Darren Randolph (illness) will not travel to the London Stadium either, while Dango Ouattara's Burkina Faso were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations by Mali in Tuesday's last-16 affair, but the weekend's clash with Nottingham Forest is a more likely comeback date for the winger.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Johnson, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Phillips, Soucek; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Cornet; Bowen
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Neto; Kelly, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Cook, Christie; Tavernier, Scott, Sinisterra; Solanke
We say: West Ham United 3-1 Bournemouth
West Ham's magnificent defensive exploits at home may count for little against the prolific attacking unit of Bournemouth, but with Bowen fully fit again and Kudus out to right some AFCON wrongs, the Irons can fight fire with fire on Thursday.
Credit where credit is due for Bournemouth's exceptional cup display, but with no disrespect to Swansea, West Ham are a different kettle of fish at the London Stadium, and a third successive Premier League loss surely awaits the Cherries in the capital.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
