On Saturday, 6th April, within the 32nd tour of the Premier League, West Ham will welcome Wolverhampton on their home ground. Last Tuesday, Gary O'Neil's charges settled for a draw in a match against Burnley, whilst the Hammers settled for a tie with Tottenham, significantly complicating their task in the fight for the European zone.
Wolverhampton: Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Toti; Semedo, Lemina, Doyle, Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Sarabia, Cunha.
West Ham: Fabianski; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Bowen.
The match is set to take place in Wolverhampton at the Molineux Stadium.
Occupying 10th place in the Premier League table and trailing the upcoming opponent by 3 points, Wolverhampton retain minimal chances of finishing in the European zone. Nonetheless, the oranges regularly stumble in recent weeks: they have only claimed one victory in the last four rounds, suffering two defeats. At the end of March, the hosts lost 2:0 to Aston Villa, and last week drew 1:1 with Burnley, thanks to a precise header by Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Now, O'Neil's players will try for the first time this season to secure three home victories in a row in the championship, with the Wolves securing only 11th position in this regard overall: 24 points have been garnered in 14 meetings at Molineux, with 22 goals scored and 21 conceded.
Considered a serious contender for a European spot in the current campaign, West Ham currently occupies the 7th position in the Premier League table. However, lately, the Hammers barely impress, failing to win any of their last 4 national championship matches (3 draws and 1 defeat). Having lost to Newcastle in a dramatic shootout with a 4:3 score over the weekend, David Moyes's team drew with Tottenham midweek- 1:1.
Worth noting, the Hammers have conceded a whopping 12 goals in the last five Premier League away games, and with respect to points garnered away from home walls (20), they occupy the seventh position in the general classification. By the way, next Thursday West Ham sets off to Leverkusen for the first quarter-final match of the Europa League versus Bayer.
Wolverhampton triumphed 1:0 in the last two head-to-head encounters at Molineux, but Moyes's brigade thrashed the oranges 3:0 in a December match at the London Stadium.
Since the 2010-11 season, these teams have not drawn a match- over the last 13 head-to-head matches. The expected return of Konya to action should invigorate the hosts, whereas West Ham, pretty good on the road this season and possessing more than a quality squad, will keep in mind the upcoming duel with Bayer in the Europa League and will not rush their play. Hence, I am inclined to a draw.
In none of the past five head-to-head bouts have these teams exchanged goals - an anomaly for sides with such attacking potential. Konya, Sarabia, Kudus, Bowen, Paqueta - these lads are bound to delight fans with a productive shootout.
Both sides advocate an attacking style of football and won't be on the defensive - I expect the teams to have at least 10 corners taken (there were 11 in the first round).
In none of the past five head-to-head matches were there shown more than 4 yellow cards - the same will be the case again.
I am staking on an exact score of 1:1.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Liverpool | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 29:11 | 35 | |
2 | Chelsea | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 35:18 | 31 | |
3 | Arsenal | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 29:15 | 29 | |
4 | Manchester City | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 27:21 | 27 | |
5 | Nottingham | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 19:18 | 25 | |
6 | Aston Villa | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 23:23 | 25 | |
7 | Brighton | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 25:22 | 24 | |
8 | Bournemouth | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 23:20 | 24 | |
9 | Brentford | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 31:28 | 23 | |
10 | Fulham | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 22:20 | 23 | |
11 | Tottenham | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 31:19 | 20 | |
12 | Newcastle | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | -2 | 19:21 | 20 | |
13 | Manchester Utd | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 19:18 | 19 | |
14 | West Ham | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | -8 | 20:28 | 18 | |
15 | Everton | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | -7 | 14:21 | 14 | |
16 | Leicester | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | -9 | 21:30 | 14 | |
17 | Crystal Palace | 15 | 2 | 7 | 6 | -6 | 14:20 | 13 | |
18 | Ipswich | 15 | 1 | 6 | 8 | -13 | 14:27 | 9 | |
19 | Wolves | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | -15 | 23:38 | 9 | |
20 | Southampton | 15 | 1 | 2 | 12 | -20 | 11:31 | 5 | |
1 | Brentford | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26:14 | 22 | |
2 | Liverpool | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13:3 | 18 | |
3 | Arsenal | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17:6 | 17 | |
4 | Manchester City | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15:10 | 16 | |
5 | Aston Villa | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13:9 | 15 | |
6 | Fulham | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14:13 | 14 | |
7 | Brighton | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12:9 | 13 | |
8 | Bournemouth | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10:6 | 13 | |
9 | Tottenham | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 20:11 | 13 | |
10 | Manchester Utd | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 13:11 | 13 | |
11 | Chelsea | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12:8 | 12 | |
12 | Nottingham | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8:6 | 11 | |
13 | Newcastle | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8:8 | 11 | |
14 | West Ham | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 12:16 | 10 | |
15 | Everton | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9:8 | 9 | |
16 | Leicester | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11:12 | 9 | |
17 | Crystal Palace | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6:10 | 7 | |
18 | Ipswich | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6:12 | 4 | |
19 | Wolves | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 11:18 | 4 | |
20 | Southampton | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7:16 | 4 | |
1 | Chelsea | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23:10 | 19 | |
2 | Liverpool | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16:8 | 17 | |
3 | Nottingham | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11:12 | 14 | |
4 | Arsenal | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 12:9 | 12 | |
5 | Manchester City | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 12:11 | 11 | |
6 | Brighton | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 13:13 | 11 | |
7 | Bournemouth | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 13:14 | 11 | |
8 | Aston Villa | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10:14 | 10 | |
9 | Fulham | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8:7 | 9 | |
10 | Newcastle | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11:13 | 9 | |
11 | West Ham | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8:12 | 8 | |
12 | Tottenham | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 11:8 | 7 | |
13 | Manchester Utd | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6:7 | 6 | |
14 | Crystal Palace | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8:10 | 6 | |
15 | Everton | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5:13 | 5 | |
16 | Leicester | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10:18 | 5 | |
17 | Ipswich | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8:15 | 5 | |
18 | Wolves | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 12:20 | 5 | |
19 | Brentford | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 5:14 | 1 | |
20 | Southampton | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 4:15 | 1 |
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