Match Preview
West Ham United vrs Fulham
Premiership Match Day 18 25/26 at London Stadium
Saturday 27th December 2025 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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Fulham lost this exact fixture 3-2 in January last season. They’ve not lost multiple league games against West Ham in the same calendar year since 2008 (3).
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West Ham have lost just one of their last 14 Premier League home games against Fulham (W9 D4), going down 2-0 in April 2024 under David Moyes.
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West Ham have lost more Premier League London derbies than any other side (136), while Fulham have the highest loss percentage in these matches in the competition (53% - lost 95 of 179).
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Fulham have won their last two away Premier League matches, as many as in their previous 12 combined (W2 D1 L9). The Cottagers last won three in a row in January/February this year.
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West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen has scored in six of his last 12 home Premier League appearances (six goals), but he hasn’t ended on the winning side in any (D3 L3). Only five players have had a run of failing to win in seven consecutive home appearances when they’ve found the net, most recently Oliver McBurnie between December 2020 and April 2024 for Sheffield United.
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West Ham have lost all five of their Premier League games against fellow London sides this season, conceding 14 goals and scoring just twice. The Hammers last lost six consecutive league London derbies between April 1996 and January 1997.
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West Ham have collected just 13 points in the Premier League this season, their joint lowest at Christmas in a season along with 2010-11. They eventually finished 20th that season and were relegated.
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West Ham have lost 10 home league matches in 2025 – it’s only the third time they’ve lost 10+ games at home in a year, along with 1931 (10) and 1967 (11).
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Since Nuno Espírito Santo’s first Premier League match in charge, only Burnley (7) and Wolves (1) have won fewer points than West Ham (10) – he is averaging just 0.83 points per game as Hammers boss, the lowest of any permanent boss in their Premier League history.
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West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen has scored in six of his last 12 home Premier League appearances (six goals), but he hasn’t ended on the winning side in any (D3 L3). Only five players have had a run of failing to win in seven consecutive home appearances when they’ve found the net, most recently Oliver McBurnie between December 2020 and April 2024 for Sheffield United.
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Source Joshua Ojele at SportsMole/BBCSports