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Preview West Ham Wolves by Always Wolves 5 minutes ago
WEST HAM V WOLVES: MATCH PREVIEW
TEAM NEWS
Wolves will be without Matt Doherty and Sam Johnstone for the trip to the capital, but otherwise have a fully fit squad to choose from. Doherty is nursing a niggle and will not travel, while Johnstone is dealing with a shoulder problem that could rule him out for the rest of the season.
West Ham could welcome several players back for Friday’s important game at the London Stadium. Jean-Clair Todibo, Crysencio Summerville, and Callum Wilson are all expected to be involved, while Konstantinos Mavropanos is available after passing concussion protocol. Alphonse Areola and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are also in contention, although Lukasz Fabianski remains out with a back problem.
ROB EDWARDS
In terms of injury news, Sam Johnstone is suffering with a “shoulder issue” and Matt Doherty has picked up a “niggle”, so neither will feature on Friday night.
The goalkeeper’s injury may hamper his chances of featuring in the final seven games of this season, although Edwards hopes to obtain “more detail” soon.
The “ultra-long” 25-day international break has been “good but strange”. He explained: “I can’t remember ever having this amount of time between fixtures, apart from during Covid, so it has been new and different for me.”
It has been an opportunity to “review some stuff, take some time off, do some good training and look forward” though.
He added: “West Ham have had a couple of competitive games since we last played, so maybe that will help them. Hopefully the break has been good for us. It will be interesting to see how we turn up.”
When asked how Wolves will approach the fixture, he replied: “It is a really big game for both teams. We want to try to take things as far as we can, keep improving, keep the momentum going, and go into it wanting to win.”
Edwards feels the 3-0 victory over West Ham United earlier this season “certainly helped morale and built belief”, but there had been “a lot of good performances” prior to picking up that result.
He feels Nuno Espirito Santo is a “brilliant manager”, who rightly has “legendary status” following his time at Wolves.
On being able to move off the bottom of the table with a win, he said: “We want to try to take as much positive momentum into next season, so clearly we want finish as high as possible. To do that we need to get points, but we haven’t thought about what it might do to the table. It would be silly to do so.”
He hasn’t “thought too much” about what would make a good end to the season: “I suppose I want to try to keep the feeling we’ve got around the club right now. If we feel good about the football club and the work we have done, that’s some success to take into next season.”
Lastly, when asked about defensive midfielder Andre, he replied: “I love him to bits. He is brilliant, as a person and as a player. He is a wonderful guy. When he plays well, we play well.”
MATCH STATS & FACTS
West Ham have won their last five Premier League home games against Wolves. Only against Blackburn (9 from 1996 to 2008), Middlesbrough (7 from 2000 to 2009), and Sunderland (6 from 2002 to 2010) have they won more consecutively in the competition.
Wolves are looking to complete the double over West Ham for the first time since 2019-20. Since their return to the Premier League in 2018, they’ve only beaten Southampton (9) more often in the division than they have the Hammers (8).
None of the last 16 Premier League meetings between West Ham and Wolves have been drawn, with both sides winning eight apiece. The Hammers have failed to score in all eight of those defeats.
West Ham have lost only one of their last six home Premier League games (W1 D4), collecting more points over that period (7) than in their first nine home matches of 2025-26 (6 – W2 L7).
Following a run of 11 successive defeats between October and December, Wolves have only lost four of their 13 matches in the Premier League since MD19 (W3 D6), with only Arsenal (11), Manchester City (11), and Brighton and Hove Albion (12) conceding fewer goals in that time than their 15.
Wolves have scored two goals in each of their last three Premier League games (W2 D1), netting just one fewer goal in total (6) than in their prior eight games (7); they last netted 2+ goals in more straight league games in November 2024 (run of five).
John McGinn’s opener for Aston Villa last time out was the 17th goal West Ham have conceded from set pieces in the Premier League this season (ex. penalties); no side has conceded more. Indeed, the Hammers have only conceded more in a single campaign in the competition in 2002-03 (18).
West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen has more Premier League goals against Wolves than he does against any other side (6), with five of his six goals coming in his last five home matches against them, netting in each of his previous three.
Both of João Gomes’ Premier League goal involvements this season have come in his last three games (1 goal, 1 assist), while only Elliot Anderson (259) has won possession more often than the Brazilian this term (164).
Tolu Arokodare’s equaliser for Wolves last time out against Brentford was Wolves’ fifth Premier League goal via a substitute under Rob Edwards, and eighth sub goal involvement overall; only Arsenal (9 goals, 16 goal involvements) and Fulham (7 goals, 10 goal involvements) have more since he joined the club.
Referee: Jarred Gillett. Assistants: Tim Wood, Wade Smith. Fourth official: Tim Robinson. VAR: Neil Davies. Assistant VAR: Peter Bankes.
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WEST HAM V WOLVES: MATCH PREVIEW
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