WHZ View: Three things to look out for in Wolves v West Ham
The Premier League finally returns this weekend but West Ham will have to wait until Monday night before they’re back in action when Wolves welcome them to Molineux.
Despite their recent run of form, David Moyes’ side has every reason to feel confident going into the clash. The Irons won the reverse fixture 4-0 at the London Stadium, they played Wolves off the park.
Nuno Espirito Santo won’t have forgotten that evening in a hurry. His side will be glad to see the end of this season, they’ve won just twice in 2021.
It’s hardly ever a dull encounter when these two sides meet, and we expect more of the same. West Ham Zone have picked out three things to look out for in the clash on Monday.
Lingard the livewire
Jesse Lingard has been playing like a man possessed since joining the Hammers. He continued this form into his England performance against San Marino, in which the attacker was named as the man of the match.
In his nine matches in 2021 for club and country, Lingard has taken 31 attempts at goal. He’s really making up for lost time. We expect more of the same against Wolves, as he looks to build on his five goals and two assists for the Hammers.
Dominant in defence
It’s fair to say that we’ve let ourselves down defensively in the last two games. Of the four goals conceded, three have been own goals. It’s the kind of sloppiness we aren’t used to seeing from West Ham this season and we’re hopeful of a response.
Wolves have scored just twice in their last five Premier League matches. It’s no secret that they’ve struggled in front of goal in the absence of Raul Jiminez. The teenage striker Fabio Silva hasn’t quite been able to cut it – this is a great chance for us to stop our defensive howlers and keep a clean sheet.
99-year curse
September was the first time we’ve got a win over Wolves in four attempts. They’ve definitely had the better of the results when we’ve met over the last few seasons, in the Premier League and the Championship.
You have to go back an astonishing 99 years for the last time we did the double over Wolves in the league. In the 1922/23 season, we met twice in the old English second division. West Ham won 1-0 at home and 4-1 away. We expect the Hammers to do the double on Monday, and stop that barren run.
In other West Ham news, we feel that it’s time to say goodbye to this Hammers fan favourite.