Credit: Imago

Cameron Smith

Thu 9 April 2026 13:10, UK

West Ham United are back in action on Friday, as they welcome Premier League basement dwellers Wolves to the London Stadium.

Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side are aiming to bounce back from Sunday’s heartbreak, as they fell to a 4-2 penalty shootout defeat against Leeds United in the FA Cup quarter-final stage.

For visitors Wolves, it has been almost four weeks since they were last in action, following their rescheduled clash with Arsenal due to the Carabao Cup final and the subsequent international break.

The Hammers go into the weekend knowing that a win will momentarily lift them out of the bottom three, while rivals Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Leeds play out their fixtures on Sunday and Monday respectively.

And Nuno’s side look good value to do exactly that in their upcoming clash.

West Ham firm favourites as Wolves travel to East London

The Irons lost 3-0 at Molineux earlier this season, handing Wolves their first league win of the term in the process.

As a result, they are looking to get one back over the Old Gold, who sit at the bottom of the league having amassed just 17 points across 31 matches.

Opta’s supercomputer has West Ham as firm favourites, with a 50.1 per cent chance of taking all three points, meaning the Hammers have a big chance to climb out of the bottom three for the time being.

This weekend, Nuno’s side have the big advantage of playing before their rivals, while the fixtures have come in handy too.

On Sunday, Nottingham Forest host Aston Villa just days after a big Europa League quarter-final with Porto, while Tottenham and Leeds face Sunderland and Manchester United respectively.

Opta supercomputer predicts chances of winning for West Ham’s relegation rivals:

• Nottingham Forest – 31.7%
• Tottenham – 30.1%
• Leeds – 18.1%

The chances are that one of the Irons’ direct relegation rivals will drop points this weekend. And this is an opportunity that they simply cannot pass up on as they face the side who have sat at the bottom of the standings since matchday one.

West Ham set for potentially season-defining weekend

Last Sunday’s loss was naturally, extremely disappointing for Hammers fans.

However, despite the cup exit, there were obvious positives to take, given the fantastic fight shown to come from two goals behind, before almost winning the tie in extra time.

After a difficult opening few months, Nuno has been able to fully make his mark on his side, and this is showing each week with the level of fight and desire on show to drag the club out of the current predicament.

Sitting just four points behind Leeds in 15th, this relegation battle is set to take many more turns just yet.

And given West Ham’s remarkable uptick in form since the turn of the year, you would not put it past Nuno’s men to go on and claim their place in the division.

However, they have to now dust themselves down after Sunday’s heartbreak, and show up with a strong performance against Wolves, as the chance is there to remain outside of the drop zone should their rivals drop points over the weekend.