Preview:Bournemouth vs West Ham United - prediction, team news, lineups

Heading in opposite trajectories just before international action intervened, Bournemouth and West Ham United square off in Saturday's intriguing Premier League scrap at the Vitality Stadium.

The Cherries have fallen to defeat in their most recent two fixtures, whereas Nuno Espirito Santo's rejuvenated Irons are aiming for a third win on the spin.

Match preview

A two-goal loss at Manchester City is understandable and perhaps even acceptable, but disaster well and truly struck for Bournemouth in the West Midlands two weekends ago, when everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Andoni Iraola.

Not only did the Cherries fall to a humbling 4-0 loss to Aston Villa, Antoine Semenyo made his manager and numerous fantasy football managers very unhappy when his penalty was saved by Emiliano Martinez, and Iraola also lost Adam Smith to a head injury just for good measure.

From mixing it with the big boys to finding themselves within touching distance of the bottom half, Bournemouth have plunged to ninth place in the Premier League table as a result of their away-day failures, just three points above Everton in 13th spot.

A return to home comforts offers major hope for the South Coast faithful, though, as after 11 gameweeks of the 2025-26 season, only Manchester City have performed better on their own turf than the Cherries.

Indeed, Iraola's men have taken 13 points from 15 available at the Vitality Stadium so far, and their four wins in that time is as many as they claimed in their final 12 Premier League home matches of the 2024-25 campaign.

Also helping themselves to home wins over the past few weeks, West Ham may have finally turned a corner under former Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur boss Santo, who masterminded back-to-back victories just before the two-week pause.

Newcastle United and Burnley both rocked up to the London Stadium earlier in November, and both left without a single point to their name after shipping three goals to the Irons, who are now oh so close to safety.

The visitors' engrossing 3-2 triumph over Burnley in gameweek 11 means that they are only behind the 17th-placed Clarets on goal difference, and victory at the Vitality could lift Santo's men as high as 14th if other results also go their way this weekend.

However, two-week resets have done West Ham little good so far this year, as they have lost all three of their Premier League matches straight after international breaks in 2025 - no other team has suffered the same fate.

The London club have been Bournemouth's kryptonite down the years, though, having avoided defeat in each of their last eight Premier League games against the Cherries and also overcoming Iraola's men in the recent Summer Series in the United States.

Bournemouth Premier League form:

West Ham United Premier League form:

Team News

Play was stopped almost immediately in Bournemouth's loss to Villa due to Smith's sickening collision with Tyler Adams, who came out of the head clash largely unscathed while his bloodied captain left the pitch as a concussion substitute.

The experienced right-back is not guaranteed to feature this weekend, so Lewis Cook may very well slot in, as Alex Jimenez suffered the ultimate football humiliation ritual at Villa Park - being substituted off after being subbed on.

Cook is one of four concerns for the hosts this weekend, as Ben Gannon Doak (hamstring) and Justin Kluivert (adductor) are sidelined with issues sustained during the international break, while Semenyo is a doubt with an ankle concern.

If the Ghanaian does feature, he has some wrongs to right, as he has failed to score or assist in any of his last four Premier League games after his penalty failure last time out.

On West Ham's end, the Irons' victory over Burnley last time out did not come without sacrifice, as Lucas Paqueta picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and will now serve a one-match suspension on Saturday.

The Brazilian's ban should lead to a recall for Tomas Soucek, who came off the bench to score West Ham's second against the Clarets, but fellow midfielder Freddie Potts will need assessing due to a dead leg.

Lukasz Fabianski (back), Dinos Mavropanos (thigh) and Niclas Fullkrug (thigh) are also on the visitors' touch-and-go list, but Oliver Scarles is definitely absent due to his shoulder problem.

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Cook, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert; Scott, Adams; Semenyo, Brooks, Tavernier; Kroupi

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Diouf; Soucek, Potts, Fernandes; Bowen, Wilson, Summerville

We say: Bournemouth 3-2 West Ham United

The stage is set for a gripping contest between a West Ham side in their best moment of the season, and a Bournemouth outfit desperate to stop the rut at a ground where they tend to excel.

Expect high-octane action and a glut of goals down south, where Iraola's men have our vote to take advantage of the visitors' backline weaknesses and edge an enthralling battle.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.