Chris Sutton predicts result of West Ham United Premier League clash v Bournemouth
Chris Sutton has made his prediction for the opening game of the Premier League season between West Ham and Bournemouth this weekend.
The Hammers return to Premier League action for the first time since winning the Europa Conference League against Fiorentina, while the Cherries prepare to start their second campaign in the top flight after avoiding the drop last season
But Sutton believes we could be set for a cagey affair between a West Ham side that isn’t quite ready for the new season and a Bournemouth side with a new manager, and told BBC Sport (11 August) that he is going for a draw.
“New Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola comes in with a reputation for being a disciple of Marcelo Bielsa,” he said.
“Based on what we’ve seen from him with Rayo Vallecano in Spain, his teams will be extremely high-pressing, but it’s going to be interesting to see if he’s been able to get his ideas about how he wants to play across to the Cherries squad in the weeks since he took charge.
“Up until the last 24 hours or so, I was wondering what the hell was going on with West Ham, because they weren’t getting any transfers done. That seems to be changing, with various offers in and Edson Alvarez arriving from Ajax, but why leave it so late before the season starts?
“It’s very unfair on West Ham boss David Moyes, because it is several weeks since the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal was done and his squad is not where he wants it to be.
“I can’t see Moyes coming out on the front foot here, so this could be quite a cagey affair. The Hammers will try to lure them in, then hit them on the counter. I actually have a sneaky feeling that they will nick it, but let’s go for a draw instead. 1-1.”
Quick start
It’s been a far from ideal pre-season for West Ham, losing key players and barely getting any business done before the season started.
But the season is now upon us and we can only blame ourselves for that, so the players that are still here have very few excuses to not go out there and start quickly.
Obviously being away from home will make things more difficult because the Bournemouth fans will be delighted to see their team back and will be pushing them on from the stands, but man for man we definitely have the better squad.
Lucas Paqueta is still part of the team despite Manchester City’s interest and will be expected to play his part, while Danny Ings will look to use this as a way to kickstart his Hammers career as the first-choice striker after Gianluca Scamacca’s exit.
We need to start fast and start well to avoid a bad energy around the club for the next week, and we have the team to do it if Moyes lets the handbreak off as he did towards the back end of last season.
In other West Ham news, medical complete as another ‘Big’ transfer close to completion.