West Ham United FC vs Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Premier League 2022-2023, Today Match Prediction

West Ham United FC vs Wolverhampton Wanderers FC Match Prediction & Analysis

At the bottom of the table, this season has been a strange one in terms of the teams who have found themselves in or around the relegation zone.

Leicester, West Ham and Wolves are three of the bigger teams who find themselves in trouble, with poor performances and less-than-encouraging results following.

West Ham have been one of the most disappointing so far, especially considering their great run into the European positions at the end of last season.

David Moyes has a good squad, although his players seem to be suffering from some kind of hangover that needs to be shaken as soon as possible.

Wolves are in a similar position, with many of their best players underperforming compared to previous seasons. 

Both sides are in desperate need of victory here, but who will come away with the points?

TEAMS PREVIEW

West Ham United FC Preview

Reasons to be cheerful:

     Have a stronger team than Wolves

     Won three of their last four against their opponents here

Reasons to be fearful:

     Joint-lowest scorers in the league this season (alongside Wolves)

     European football could be distracting them in the league

West Ham are getting to the stage where the start to their season has been a disaster. 

Should they lose here, they could find themselves in 19th place, with just one win from their opening eight games. This won’t be acceptable consider the ambitions of West Ham fans in recent seasons.

Indeed, they’ve finished in the European positions in two of the last three seasons, showing where this squad should be challenging.

Unfortunately, it could be the distracting of European football that is causing this downturn in form, but that is something for David Moyes to consider.

New signings Paqueta, a Brazillian regular, and Scamacca must come good soon. They cannot drift in the bottom three for long before serious questions are asked.

They have a stronger team than Wolves and, in normal times, should be better than their opponents here.

Star Man – Lucas Paqueta

The talented attacking midfielder continues to star for Brazil and must transfer that form to his new club. His quality will show eventually, but West Ham need his skills now.

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC Preview

Reasons to be cheerful

     Costa could be fit enough to lead the line

     Kept clean sheets in five of their last eight meetings with Hammers

Reasons to be fearful

     Jimenez could be out until after the World Cup

     Poor recent record against West Ham

There are many similarities between West Ham and Wolves this season, not least in their league positions near the foot of the table.

Wolves haven’t strengthened their squad to the same extent as the Hammers, which is why many believe their opponents will finish higher than them by the end of the season.

They do have some quality, of course, not least in the newly acquired Diego Costa, who has history with Chelsea in the Premier League. 

If he is half the player he used to be, he could help Wolves recover some of their success from recent seasons.

Here, they must try and stop West Ham from scoring. In their last eight games, they’ve kept five clean sheets, however they’ve lost on the three occasions they’ve conceded.

Star Man – Diego Costa

Costa scored 59 goals across three seasons at Chelsea. Wolves could desperately do with some of his stardust, although it remains to be seen how fit he is currently.