Just 12 days after a 2-1 Premier League (PL) win over fellow strugglers Everton, Wolves were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Anfield after a controversial offside call denied them a famous FA Cup win, with both matches seeing Julen Lopetegui’s men come from behind to avoid defeat.
Yet, the fact remains that Wolves’ only league victories to date have come against teams starting the round inside the bottom six, which can only further add to this game’s billing as a relegation ‘six-pointer’.
They return to Molineux after a chain of four straight PL home defeats, three of which saw them fail to score, and with a league-low five home goals this season, Lopetegui may consider giving loan signing Matheus Cunha his first start up front.
Just a point ahead of their hosts, West Ham must avoid defeat to prevent themselves from being leapfrogged by Wolves, thus dropping into the relegation zone.
Yet, they come into this after a hard-fought 1-0 FA Cup win at Brentford, and will have fond memories of a 2-0 victory over Wolves earlier in the campaign.
That said, the London side’s perilous league position has made David Moyes a popular ‘sack race’ candidate, and this could perhaps play on the minds of his charges.
That win over Wolves in October has opened the possibility of securing a second head-to-head league double for the Hammers in three seasons.
However, it’s just one win in ten PL away games for the Hammers (D2, L7), and while four of those losses came ‘to-nil’, the other three defeats in that miserable run all came after Moyes’ men had drawn first blood.
Players to watch: Hwang Hee-chan’s strike gave Wolves the morale-boosting draw at Anfield, notching his first club strike since February 2022.
But if he can’t make a late impact again, West Ham’s Saïd Benrahma – the FA Cup matchwinner at Brentford – will want to step in, with a 60 per cent win-rate across prior PL games to see him net a second-half goal (W3, D1, L1).
Hot stat: Wolves are the only PL side yet to score a home league goal after the hour mark this term.
