West Ham United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers - prediction, team news, lineups

Two Premier League teams sitting in the relegation zone square off at the London Stadium on Friday night, as West Ham United play host to basement club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Hammers will be out for revenge against a resurgent Old Gold outfit, after suffering a 3-0 defeat at Molineux in the reverse fixture on January 3.

Match preview

West Ham’s quest for their first FA Cup semi-final in two decades ended in the cruellest possible fashion last weekend. Despite a valiant fightback to force a 2-2 draw after extra time at the London Stadium, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men ultimately succumbed to Leeds United in a high-stakes penalty shootout.

The Hammers were also beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa in their most recent Premier League game prior to the international break, leaving them 18th in the table but only one point behind Tottenham Hotspur in 17th. Friday’s clash offers a golden opportunity to leapfrog their London rivals and escape the bottom three.

John McGinn’s opener for Aston Villa was the 17th Premier League goal West Ham have conceded from set pieces this term (excluding penalties); no team has conceded more, and the Hammers have only shipped more in a single campaign in the division in 2002-03 (18).

While set-piece vulnerability remains a concern, West Ham’s home form has improved slightly in recent weeks, as they have lost just one of their last six Premier League matches at the London Stadium (W1 D4), accumulating more points over that period (seven) than in their first nine home games of the season (six - W2 L7).

West Ham head into Friday’s contest having won each of their last five Premier League home meetings with Wolves; only against Blackburn Rovers (nine from 1996 to 2008), Middlesbrough (seven from 2000 to 2009) and Sunderland (six from 2002 to 2010) have the Hammers prevailed on more consecutive occasions against a single opponent in the division.

Since enduring a miserable 11-game losing streak between October 18 and December 27, Wolves have lost just four of their last 13 Premier League fixtures (W3 D6), with only leaders Arsenal (11), Manchester City (11) and Brighton and Hove Albion (12) conceding fewer goals in that period than the 15 shipped by Rob Edwards’s men.

The Old Gold rank ninth in the Premier League form table across the last six gameweeks (W2 D3 L1), with impressive home victories over Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa (2-0) and Liverpool (2-1) followed by a comeback 2-2 draw at Brentford before the international break.

However, Wolves' recent resurgence may be a case of ‘too little, too late’. Sitting rock bottom and 13 points adrift of safety, Edwards and co only have seven games to pull off the greatest of escapes. Their one advantage is a relatively favourable run-in, with five of those matches coming against teams currently in the bottom half of the table.

A newfound clinical edge in the final third has revitalised Wolves in recent weeks, with Edwards’s side scoring two goals in each of their last three Premier League matches (W2 D1). This six-goal haul is nearly as many as they managed in their previous eight matches combined (seven), and they last netted 2+ goals in more successive league games in November 2024 (five-game run).

Wolves head into Friday’s fixture seeking to complete the double over West Ham for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign. Since 2018, only Southampton (nine) have suffered more Premier League defeats at the hands of the Old Gold than West Ham (eight).

West Ham United Premier League form:

West Ham United form (all competitions):

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:

Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):

Team News

West Ham quartet Crysencio Summerville, Jean-Clair Todibo (both calf), Konstantinos Mavropanos (head) and Callum Wilson (unspecified) are all injury doubts and will be assessed ahead of kickoff, while backup goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski (back) is set to remain sidelined.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka missed the FA Cup defeat to Leeds after he was 'detained' by DR Congo to celebrate with the national team and the country's president following their World Cup qualification last week. The right-back was back in Hammers training on Tuesday, so he should be available for selection against Wolves.

Jarrod Bowen has scored more Premier League goals against Wolves than versus any other team (six), with five of his six strikes coming in his last five home meetings. The West Ham captain could be joined in attack by Valentin Castellanos and either Pablo or ex-Wolves winger Adama Traore.

As for the Old Gold, Defender Enso Gonzalez (knee) remains out and goalkeeper Sam Johnstone is doubtful with a knock, but the rest of Edwards’s squad should be fit and raring to go.

Although Joao Gomes, Andre and Yerson Mosquera are all just one booking away from a two-game suspension, all three players are still expected to continue in the first XI, with the former two operating in midfield and the latter set to play at centre-back.

Mateus Mane scored his first professional goal for Wolves in the 3-0 win over West Ham in January. The 18-year-old is expected to start in either midfield or attack, and if he is deployed in the former position, then Tolu Arokodare or Hwang Hee-chan could be recalled to start up front alongside January signing Adam Armstrong.

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Disasi, Diouf; Fernandes, Magassa, Soucek; Bowen, Pablo, Castellanos

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Sa; Mosquera, S. Bueno, Krejci; Tchatchoua, J. Gomes, Andre, Mane, H. Bueno; Armstrong, Arokodare

We say: West Ham United 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

None of the last 16 Premier League encounters between West Ham and Wolves have ended as a draw, with both teams winning eight games each. The Hammers have failed to score in all eight of those defeats, but we are backing Nuno’s men to make the net ripple on Friday.

While another spirited display from Wolves is likely, a West Ham side motivated by the chance to escape the relegation zone may just have the edge on this occasion in a closely-contested battle.

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