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

Fulham are in action for the last time in 2025 on Saturday when they journey to the London Stadium to take on West Ham United in round 18 of the Premier League.

While the Cottagers could make it three straight league wins for the first time since January 2023, the Hammers will look to flip the script this weekend and begin their surge from the doldrums.

Match preview

Heading into the midway point of the 2025-26 Premier League season, West Ham United find themselves in the bottom three, five points away from safety in what has been a grossly underwhelming campaign.

Having seen their lead slip away in a narrow 3-2 defeat against Aston Villa on December 14, the Hammers were outclassed and outplayed by high-flying Manchester City last weekend, as they lost 3-0 when both sides met at the Etihad.

Erling Haaland delivered the goods for Pep Guardiola’s men once again, finding the target on either side of setting up Tijjani Reijnders’s 38th-minute strike to fire Man City to their 12th league win of the season.

West Ham picked up consecutive victories over Newcastle United and Burnley in their first two outings in November, but what seemed like a resurgent spell has unravelled, with the Hammers failing to taste victory in six straight games, picking up three points from the last 18 available.

Particularly worrying has been their performance on home turf, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s men failing to win 11 of their last 13 Premier League games at the London Stadium, losing eight and claiming three draws since the start of March.

However, history will be on West Ham’s side on Saturday, as they take on an opposing side who are without a win in 13 of their last 14 league visits to the London Stadium, losing nine and claiming four draws since December 2002.

Marco Silva’s men have blown hot and cold this season, but they could move into the top half of the Premier League standings with all three points at the London Stadium this weekend.

Raul Jimenez’s penalty strike late in first-half stoppage time saw Fulham secure a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at Craven Cottage last Monday to pick up back-to-back league wins for the third time this season.

Sandwiched between the two Premier League victories, the Cottagers were dumped out of the EFL Cup on December 17, when they fell to a 2-1 loss against Newcastle in their quarter-final clash at St. James’ Park.

Only the top-five sides have picked up more wins than Fulham’s seven in the league, but they hold the joint second-highest number of defeats amongst teams outside the relegation zone (8), only behind Nottingham Forest’s nine losses.

Silva’s men have picked up 23 points from their 17 Premier League matches to sit 13th in the table, 10 points and five places above this weekend’s hosts, and level on points with Newcastle and Brentford.

West Ham United Premier League form:

Fulham Premier League form:

Fulham form (all competitions):

Team News

West Ham United remain without the services of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and 20-year-old defender El Hadji Malick Diouf, who are currently away at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations with Congo DR and Senegal respectively.

On the injury front, Oliver Scarles was forced off injured shortly after the hour mark against Manchester City last weekend, and the English youngster is a major doubt for Saturday’s tie.

He is joined on the club’s injury table by veteran goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines, having sustained a back injury in September.

As for Fulham, they will have to cope without the Nigerian contingent of Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi, who are currently on duty at the ongoing AFCON.

Brazilian forward Rodrigo Muniz has been ruled out through a hamstring injury, while full-back Ryan Sessegnon is set to sit out his fifth consecutive game after picking up a muscle problem against Manchester City on December 2.

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Walker-Peters, Kilman, Todibo, Julio; Potts, Fernandes, Magassa; Paqueta, Bowen, Summerville

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Leno; Tete, Andersen, Cuenca, Robinson; Lukic, Berge; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Kevin; Jimenez

We say: West Ham United 1-1 Fulham

With 21 goals scored in their last seven clashes, meetings between West Ham and Fulham have often served up fireworks in the past, and we anticipate another action-packed contest at the London Stadium.

The departure of their AFCON contingent has watered down Fulham’s strength, and while the Hammers boast a solid home record in this fixture, we predict Silva's men will hold out for a share of the spoils.

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