West Ham host Huddersfield on Monday night in their first home game of the season. It promises to be a huge match for manager Slaven Bilic, who’s overseen three defeats from three games this season, which sees the Hammers rooted to the bottom of the table. It’s been the manner of the losses that will have concerned the manager the most, particularly the defeat away at Newcastle in their last game.
Bilic’s future is now in doubt and another defeat will only increase the pressure on the manager, who remains hugely popular among the Hammers faithful. Despite the West Ham board showing previous reluctance to sack managers, defeat at home to newly-promoted and high-flying Huddersfield could force their hand. Roberto Mancini and Rafa Benitez are the leading candidates to replace Bilic if the board do act.
On the other hand, Huddersfield have had a fantastic start to life in the Premier League. They’re sat third in the table, with 7 points from their first three games and David Wagner is yet to taste defeat as a Premier League manager.
West Ham vs. Huddersfield Predictions
This is a big game for West Ham. They’ve already lost to one newly-promoted side this season and losing to another, especially at home, would be a disaster. I don’t think they’ll win this game, but a draw looks the likeliest result.
West Ham vs. Huddersfield Betting Tips
- West Ham to win: 20/21
- Draw: 12/5
- Huddersfield to win: 33/10
- Javier Hernandez to score anytime: 6/5
Head to Head
- This will be the first league meeting between the teams since March 1972, a game West Ham won 3-0 at Upton Park.
- However, the sides met more recently in the League Cup in the 1997/98 campaign, with West Ham winning 3-1 on aggregate in the second round, with John Hartson scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win in the second leg.
- This is only the second Premier League season that West Ham have started with three defeats. In the other, 2010/11, they ended bottom of the league.
- Three of the last four teams to have lost their opening four Premier League games of the season have ended that campaign bottom of the league.
- Huddersfield haven’t won back-to-back matches in the top-flight since their final two away games of the 1955/56 campaign.
- If Huddersfield win this match, they’ll equal the 2017 points tally of both Sunderland and Middlesbrough (10 points in 19 games).
- Joe Hart as conceded as many goals in three Premier League games as a West Ham player than he did in his final 10 appearances for Manchester City in the competition (10).
- Huddersfield’s Jonas Lossl is looking to become only the fourth goalkeeper in Premier League history to keep a clean sheet in each of his first four appearances in the competition, after Pepe Reina, Alex Manninger and Anders Lindegaard.
- Only five sides have previously kept a clean sheet in their opening four games of a Premier League season, the last were Manchester City in 2015/16, and never before have a newly-promoted side done this in the competition.
- 3% of Huddersfield’s passes in the Premier League this season have been in the attacking third of the pitch, a league-high.
- West Ham have allowed their opponents a league-high nine clear-cut chances in front of goal this season, from which they have conceded eight goals.
West Ham Team News
There’s something of an injury crisis at West Ham, with Manuel Lanzini, Edmilson Fernandes and Andre Ayew all missing out. Marko Arnautovic is serving a suspension, but Andy Carroll and Winston Reid could return after recovering from injury.
Possible West Ham XI: Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna, Michail Antonio, Declan Rice, Mark Noble, Chiekhou Kouyate, Aaron Cresswell, Javier Hernandez, Andy Carroll
Huddersfield Team News
Huddersfield have no new injury worries and Laurent Depoitre and Abdelhamid Sabiri could be in contention to start on Monday.
Possible Huddersfield XI: Jonas Lossl, Tommy Smith, Mathias Jorgensen, Christopher Schindler, Chris Lowe, Aaron Mooy, Philip Billing, Elias Kachunga, Tom Ince, Rajiv Van le Parra, Steve Mounie