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

After dropping points during the opening weekend of the Championship season, promotion favourites West Ham United host capital rivals Charlton Athletic at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Hammers allowed a two-goal lead to be cancelled out late on at Burnley last weekend, whilst the Addicks picked up maximum points at The Valley courtesy of a comeback success over Derby County.

Match preview

Seventy two minutes into their first Championship game in 14 years last weekend, West Ham were two goals ahead at Burnley thanks to efforts from Max Kilman and Manor Solomon, however, the title favourites failed to hold onto three points.

A late Zian Flemming brace for the Clarets forced the Hammers to share the second-tier spoils, meaning that they sit 10th in the standings, sandwiched between clubs whose budgets pale in comparison to the 2022-23 Conference League winners.

Nevertheless, there is no need for East London panic, especially after West Ham flexed their financial and luring power over the past week, bringing Arne Engels and a certain second-tier expert into Nuno Espirito Santo's ranks.

Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, new recruit Joel Piroe has netted a staggering 73 Championship goals, more than any other player - a statistic that makes for grim reading for the other 23 clubs in the division.

After breaking the first-round EFL Cup attendance record during a 3-1 victory over Portsmouth on August 8, West Ham will play in front of a sold-out 62,500 crowd at the London Stadium in the second tier this weekend.

© Imago / Focus Images

Tasked with ruining the East London party on Saturday, Charlton Athletic have commenced the 2026-27 campaign in excellent fashion, enjoying back-to-back wins over Cheltenham Town (3-1) and Derby (2-1) in the EFL Cup and Championship respectively.

Scoring in both of those matches, young attacker Tyreece Campbell is threatening a breakthrough campaign at second-tier level after scoring on only three occasions across 46 competitive appearances during the 2025-26 term.

Adding to the committed Charlton crop of last season, head coach Nathan Jones is delighted with the summer business of his employers, who recently signed goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo on loan from Wrexham.

Despite winning just four of their 23 Championship away matches in 2025-26, the Addicks are no strangers to producing eye-catching results on the road, picking up maximum points at Leicester City and Middlesbrough near the end of last season.

A triumph over West Ham this weekend would represent a shock on another level, though, with Charlton facing the Hammers in a league fixture for the first time since a 4-0 Premier League victory in February 2007.

West Ham United Championship form:

West Ham United form (all competitions):

Charlton Athletic Championship form:

Charlton Athletic form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago

A massive boost to the chances of West Ham success on Saturday, head coach Nuno has stated that both Piroe and Engels are available to make their debuts.

On a less positive note, forward Pablo needs to be assessed after being forced with a calf issue at Burnley last weekend.

A staple for the Hammers over the past few years, Tomas Soucek remains sidelined due to an ankle problem sustained at this summer's World Cup.

Signing last week from Slavia Prague in Soucek's native Czech Republic, Charlton midfielder Timothy Ouma is continuing to build up his fitness ahead of a Championship debut in the near future.

Whilst Miles Leaburn and Millenic Alli helped the Addicks to produce a comeback win over Derby last weekend, the attacking pair are likely to remain on the bench from the start.

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Diouf; Bowen, Orford, Kante, Solomon; Castellanos, Piroe

Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:

Mannion; McNamara, Jones, Koumetio, Bell; Coventry, Chalobah, Campbell, Carey, Grant; Godden

We say: West Ham United 2-0 Charlton Athletic

Roared on by a sell-out home crowd, West Ham should be able to bounce back from last weekend's Burnley disappointment and ease past Charlton at the London Stadium.

The Addicks are the overwhelming underdogs in East London and look set to suffer their maiden defeat of 2026-27.

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