Fulham and West Ham United will aim to return to winning ways when they face off at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
The international break is behind us, and the 2024/25 Premier League season resumes with Gameweek 4. Southampton and Manchester United will lock horns in the opening match of the latest round of fixtures before we witness five simultaneous fixtures, one of which will be Fulham vs West Ham United.
Fulham began the 2024/25 season with a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United before clinching a narrow 2-1 win over Leicester City in Gameweek 2. Since then, the Cottagers have remained unbeaten, beating Birmingham City 2-0 in the EFL Cup second round before coming from a goal down to hold Ipswich Town to a 1-1 draw.
As for West Ham United, they, too, began the 2024/25 season with a one-goal defeat, going down 2-1 to Aston Villa. Then they clinched two successive victories, beating Crystal Palace 2-0 in Gameweek 2 before eking out a 1-0 win over Bournemouth in the EFL Cup second round. However, the Hammers went into the international break after enduring a 3-1 loss to Manchester City.
The corresponding fixture last season was a 5-0 hammering of West Ham United, with Raul Jimenez, Willian, Tosin Adarabioyo, Harry Wilson, and Carlos Vinicius finding the back of the net for Fulham. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Player to Watch
Fulham
Marco Silva does not have any new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Fulham manager will have a full-strength squad vs West Ham United on Saturday.
Bernd Leno is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Fulham lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs West Ham United. The backline should feature Kenny Tete, Joachim Andersen, Calvin Bassey, and Antonee Robinson.
As for the midfield unit, Sander Berge should make his first start for Fulham, lining up alongside Andreas Pereira in the double pivot. Emile Smith Rowe will likely reprise the no. 10 role, with Adama Traore and Alex Iwobi being the two wide attackers. Finally, there is no looking past Rodrigo Muniz to lead the line for the home side against West Ham.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Pereira; Traore, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Muniz
West Ham United
Unlike his counterpart in the Fulham dugout, Julen Lopetegui has a new issue to deal with ahead of the trip to Craven Cottage. The West Ham United manager might be without as many as two first-team players on Saturday.
However, there is some good news, as Alphonse Areola has shrugged off a lower back injury to be available to take on Fulham. However, Lopetegui is sweating over the fitness of Niclas Fullkrug, who sustained a knock on his achilles and calf during the international break. In addition, Aaron Cresswell (hamstring) remains on the sidelines.
The fit-again Areola will take his usual spot between the sticks, with West Ham United lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Fulham. The backline should feature Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jean-Clair Todibo, Max Kilman, and Emerson Palmieri.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez in the double pivot. Lucas Paqueta will reprise the no. 10 role, with Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus being the two wide attackers. Finally, Michail Antonio should spearhead the West Ham attack if Fullkrug is not available to take on Fulham on Saturday.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson; Alvarez, Rodriguez; Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus; Antonio
Key Stats
- Fulham won both Premier League games vs West Ham last season by an aggregate score of 7-0. They have not emerged victorious in three consecutive league meetings against the East London outfit since a run between October 1965 and October 1966. However, the Hammers have won 16 of their 28 Premier League games against Fulham, their best win rate against any side they have faced at least five times in the competition (57%).
- Fulham have won only three of their last 12 Premier League games (D4 L5), with two of those victories coming against newly promoted sides – 4-2 vs Luton in May and 2-1 vs Leicester City in August. Their only other win came away to West Ham United in April (2-0).
- West Ham United’s only win in the Premier League this season came away to Crystal Palace (2-0); they last won their opening two league games on the road of a season in 2015/16 (first three).
- Marco Silva has more Premier League wins against West Ham United than any other side (P9 W6 L3), with the 17 goals his sides have scored vs the Hammers in the competition also being his most.
- Only Newcastle United (54) have faced more shots in the Premier League this season than West Ham United (52), while their expected goals against total of 6.4 is also the second-highest, behind newly promoted Ipswich Town (6.9).
Player to Watch
Jarrod Bowen
While Michail Antonio and Rodrigo Muniz are viable candidates for this section for different reasons, we have picked Jarrod Bowen as the Englishman looks to assert his dominance this season and guide West Ham United back to Europe.
The Englishman has nine Premier League goals away from home since the start of last season, with only Erling Haaland (16) and Ollie Watkins (10) netting more. In addition, his only strike this term came on the road at Crystal Palace. So, West Ham will hope Bowen continues his excellent run in away matches and helps them clinch at least one point vs Fulham.
Prediction
Fulham 2-2 West Ham United
Both teams have had to battle hard for victories in the 2024/25 season, with the home side managing only three Premier League wins this year. However, Fulham’s home record is reasonably solid, even though they have not often ended on the right end of the result.
As for West Ham, Julen Lopetegui has indubitable quality in his squad, but he has struggled to harness it efficiently. That might end on Saturday, although his team’s defensive deficiencies might shine again. So, an engaging affair is on the cards, and The Hard Tackle predicts a goal-laden stalemate. We are going with a 2-2 draw between Fulham and West Ham this weekend.