MY ACCOUNT
– Wolves have failed to score more than once in 22 of their last 25 Premier League games
– West Ham have lost six away games in the league this season
– Recommended Bet: Wolves to win 1-0
In Saturday afternoon’s relegation six-pointer at Molineux, Wolves can move out of the relegation zone with a win that would drop West Ham into the bottom three.
Still feeling a sense of injustice at VAR’s failure to confirm their disallowed third goal at Anfield, Julen Lopetegui’s side were again unlucky when exiting the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage to Nottingham Forest after a penalty shoot-out on Wednesday.
West Ham halted a seven-game winless run by gaining revenge on Brentford in the FA Cup eight days after losing to the Bees in the Premier League.
David Moyes, who confirmed Wolves have made a bid for Hammers defender Craig Dawson, will demand his side add to their meagre away points tally in the Black Country.
Team news
Wolves are also in the midst of sealing deals for midfielders Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes, but neither has been registered in time to feature on Saturday.
Diego Costa is under assessment for a knock while Pedro Neto, Boubacar Traore, Sasa Kalajdzic and Chiquinho are all still out.
Lopetegui looks likely to restore both Nathan Collins and Hugo Bueno to his line-up with Rayan Ait-Nouri and Toti to drop out if he reverts to a back four.
Ruben Neves will return and Atletico Madrid loanee Matheus Cunha, who came off the bench to set up Raul Jimenez’s equaliser at the City Ground, could be handed his first start for the club.
For the Hammers, Vladimir Coufal is an injury doubt after being hurt in a challenge from Leeds’ Crysencio Summerville last week.
Thilo Kehrer, Emerson Palmieri and Ben Johnson are vying to replace the Czech star with Aaron Cresswell restored at left-back.
Dawson featured alongside Angelo Ogbonna and Nayef Aguerd in a back three at Brentford, but could drop to the bench as there is optimism that Kurt Zouma can return at Molineux.
Gianluca Scamacca and Manuel Lanzini could also be available for Saturday’s game, but Maxwel Cornet’s calf problem may take a little bit longer to fully heal.
The stats
Wolves have scored more than one goal in only three of their last 25 games in the Premier League.
Jarrod Bowen has scored four goals in his past five league appearances against Wolves, netting more goals against them than he has any other opponent in the competition.
Costa, who has scored three times in seven previous matches against the Hammers, made his Wolves debut in a 2-0 defeat at London Stadium last October after ten months of professional playing inactivity.
Prediction
Wolves appear to be on an upswing and, despite exiting the Carabao Cup last time out, will be confident of getting a win when they return to home soil against West Ham.
One thing that seems highly probable when these two teams meet is that defences will come out on top.
Only two Premier League clubs average fewer than the 2.17 goals per game when David Moyes’ side are in action and one of those is Wolves.
The Molineux club have seen fewer than three goals scored in 61% of their matches, while the ratio is an even greater 72% of games featuring the Hammers.
Form seems to be on Wolves’ side following the appointment of Lopetegui and they look good value at 6/1 to edge to a 1-0 win with LiveScore Bet.
