Preview: West Ham aim to return to winning ways as they welcome West Brom
· Yahoo Sports
After last weekend’s defeat to Southampton, West Ham will look to bounce back against an in-form West Brom side.
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The Hammers fell to their second defeat of the season last Saturday, losing 3-2 to Southampton and ending their nine-game unbeaten run. As for the Baggies, they drew 1-1 with bottom-of-the-table Preston North End after falling behind, but Jimmy-Jay Morgan equalised with eight minutes remaining. West Brom find themselves three games unbeaten coming into their meeting with the Hammers, meaning they sit fifth in the table, only a point behind West Ham.
The last meeting between the two sides came in 2021 in the Premier League. West Ham needed to win to keep their European hopes alive, which they did, winning 3-1. The result also led to the Baggies’ relegation from the top flight. Ahead of the fixture, West Ham head coach Nuno Espírito Santo spoke to the press, where he emphasised the importance of starting the game fast.
“We want to be in a situation where we don’t have to show a good reaction [to going behind]. We know we need to start games better. It’s one of our major challenges for tomorrow, to start the game better,” Nuno said.
“We want to be on the front foot, trying to score first, because that makes a big difference in a match.”
West Ham faced a major scare in the week when it had been reported that Jarrod Bowen had suffered an injury in training, as well as Konstantinos Mavropanos, who suffered a knee injury late on against Southampton and looks set to be unavailable. Nuno gave an update on both.
“Jarrod twisted his ankle in training. He had treatment for a couple of days, but he joined us today, and he seems okay.”
“It’s his knee,” Nuno said regarding Mavropanos.
“We were concerned about his injury, but thank god it’s not as serious as expected and he’s recovering quite well. Let’s see how long it takes. He was on the grass today by himself so it’s positive in some ways.
“We were afraid it was going to take longer, but I think soon he’s going to be good.”
West Brom boss James Morrison also spoke to the media, stating he thinks Saturday’s fixture will be one of his side’s toughest tests this season.
“I think it’s probably one of the hardest fixtures in the league, going to West Ham. They’ve got a very good squad, and they’ve demonstrated how strong they can be this season. The individual players they’ve got and the situation of their sticky patch at home mean there will be a reaction on Saturday, so we’re going to have to be at our best to compete.”
The match is scheduled to kick off at 3pm BST on Saturday, October 31st.