West Ham United host Bournemouth in Saturday’s crunch Premier League six-pointer at London Stadium as the Hammers continue their battle for survival.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will be wary of the in-form Cherries, who are unbeaten in their last six Premier League outings (W4, D2).
West Ham are coming into this fixture knowing that they could be out of the relegation zone by the end of this matchweek if other results go their way.
However, the Hammers sit third from bottom and trail Nottingham Forest by three points, so they’ll need to take care of business on their end first.
Nuno replaced Graham Potter earlier in the season, but West Ham’s resurgence has only just started.
While they cannot boast of their visitors’ unbeaten streak, the Hammers are in fine form themselves.
They have won three of their last five Premier League games (D1, L1) and will welcome Bournemouth on the back of a 1-1 draw against Manchester United.
They were moments away from another victory last week before Benjamin Sesko’s late goal earned United a point in the English capital, denying the Hammers a crucial boost.
West Ham’s home form has hardly been convincing, but they’ve only lost one of their last four games in East London (W1, D2). It remains to be seen if they can stretch their unbeaten home run to three games.
How West Ham could line up
Nuno doesn’t have much to be worried about on the injury front, but Pablo Felipe’s recent setback was a massive blow for the Portuguese manager.
He’ll also be unable to call on Lukasz Fabianski and Freddie Potts, but that’ll hardly impact West Ham’s chances this weekend.
Mads Hermansen will likely retain his place, while Nuno has a decision to make on who partners Konstantinos Mavropanos at centre-back following Jean-Clair Todibo’s return from suspension.
However, Axel Disasi could get the nod with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Diouf on full-back duty.
Soungoutou Magassa and Mateus Fernandes will likely anchor the midfield while Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek, and Crysencio Summerville line up behind Valentin Castellanos up top.
Key players to watch
Crysensio Summerville
Summerville is playing a massive role in West Ham’s survival bid and couldn’t have picked a better time to replicate the form that made the Hammers bring him in from Leeds United.
After failing to open his goalscoring account in his first 16 games of the season, the Dutchman has been near-unstoppable in recent weeks.
The 24-year-old has scored four league goals this season, with each of them coming in his last five outings. His six-goal tally in all competitions has also come in his last seven appearances.
The ex-Leeds star is certainly one to keep an eye on as West Ham take on Bournemouth.
Eli Junior Kroupi
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has an ace of his own in Eli Junior Kroupi.
The talented teenager has been a major talking point after netting eight goals in 21 games in his debut Premier League campaign.
Kroupi has scored a few important goals for the Cherries this season. Interestingly, he has been more effective for Bournemouth away from home, with five of his eight goals coming on the road.
He may not be named in the starting XI, but West Ham must watch out for the 19-year-old prodigy.
Predicted XI;
(4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Disasi, Diouf; Fernandes, Magassa; Bowen, Soucek, Summerville; Castellanos.