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

Molineux will be the backdrop for a six-pointer in Premier League's relegation battle on Saturday, when bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers face off against fellow strugglers West Ham United.

The Old Gold are hoping to build on their draw last time out, while the Hammers are looking for their first win in almost two months.

Match preview

Rob Edwards's Wolves are currently on course to end this campaign as the worst team to ever grace the Premier League, and they will be desperate to spark their survival push in their first game of 2026.

With that in mind, the Old Gold will be inspired by their 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Tuesday, and particularly by the spirit they showed to come from behind to rescue a point at Old Trafford.

That stalemate ended Wolves' dire 11-match top-flight losing streak, though they are shockingly still waiting for their first league win in 2025-26 at the halfway mark.

As things stand with 19 games to play, Edwards's side are 15 points adrift of safety at the foot of the table, and while the relegation favourites have shown some promise under the former Luton Town boss, their defensive record needs drastic improvement.

Notably, Wolves have underperformed their position in the xG table by 16.8 points - the biggest differential in the division - highlighting that the club have generally performed significantly better than their results suggest.

However, the Old Gold's lacklustre finishing has been punished due to their frail backline, which has already conceded 40 goals this season, a rate of more than two per game.

Meanwhile, Nuno Espirito Santo's West Ham are on an eight-game winless run of their own, and they will see this clash as a golden opportunity to reduce the gap to safety.

Most recently, the Hammers played out a dramatic 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion that saw three penalties taken between the teams, and the Londoners will count themselves lucky that Danny Welbeck missed his second spot kick.

Holding on for a point on Tuesday has Nuno's men 18th in the Premier League, where their tally of 14 puts them just four points short of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest.

Keen to take advantage of Wolves' strife this weekend, fans of the visitors will be quietly optimistic after seeing their team lose just one of their last four games on the road, even if they have only won once away from home this term.

Victory for West Ham would be their first since they downed relegation rivals Burnley 3-2 back on November 8, and would put immense pressure on the Garibaldis, though defeat could cause the Irons to drop down to 19th in a worst-case scenario.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:

West Ham United Premier League form:

Team News

Wolves have a lengthy absentee list to contend with this weekend, including centre-back duo Santiago Bueno and Toti Gomes, the latter of whom is working his way back from a hamstring injury.

With that in mind, Matt Doherty, Yerson Mosquera and Ladislav Krejci are likely to start in defence, flanked by wing-backs Jackson Tchatchoua and Hugo Bueno given that Rodrigo Gomes has been out since October with a groin injury.

Versatile attacking midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is also sidelined with a hamstring problem, while fellow central-third star Marshall Munetsi is recovering from a calf issue, so Edwards could opt to start Jhon Arias and Mateus Mane in front of Joao Gomes.

Elsewhere, goalkeeper Daniel Bentley will be unavailable due to an ankle injury, but Jose Sa should be on hand to operate between the sticks.

As for West Ham, they have a near-fit squad to choose from, just missing centre-half Jean-Clair Todibo, though the 26-year-old is only dealing with a knock and should be back in action within a few days.

In the meantime, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Max Kilman should line up at the heart of the Hammers' defence.

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Sa; Mosquera, Doherty, Krejci; Tchatchoua, Arias, J Gomes, Mane, H Bueno; Arokodare, Strand Larsen

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Waker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles; Magassa, Potts; Bowen, Fernandes, Paqueta; Wilson

We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2 West Ham United

Wolves may only have three points to their name, but their performances have often been better than results suggest, and they could cause serious problems for West Ham on Saturday.

However, given that the Old Gold have averaged more than two goals conceded per game, they are unlikely to take maximum points from this clash.

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