Match Preview
West Ham United vrs Fulham
Premier League Match Day 08 2021 at London Stadium
Saturday 7th November 2020 KO: 20:00
Referee:
Robert Jones (Wirral)
Live on BT Sport Box Office
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West Ham United will endeavour to bounce back from their narrow defeat to Liverpool when they welcome Fulham to the London Stadium for Saturday's derby in the Premier League.
In contrast, Scott Parker's men finally managed to register a win in the top flight as they overcame West Bromwich Albion 2-0 on Monday night.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to see where Fulham's first three points of the season might have come from, but Parker's men won the battle between two newly-promoted sides as they put two past West Brom without reply on Monday night.
Bobby Decordova-Reid and Ola Aina both got in on the act as they netted within four minutes of each other at Craven Cottage, with Parker's men managing to lift themselves out of the relegation zone with that victory.
Despite picking up their first win of the season, there can be no denying that it has been nothing short of a woeful start to life back in the big time for Fulham, but a dominant victory with a clean sheet should give the Cottagers a much-needed confidence boost before this weekend's London derby.
Parker will be desperate for another win here as the tough fixtures come thick and fast for Fulham after the international break - the Cottagers must take on Everton, Leicester, Man City and Liverpool in their first four games back.
West Ham have managed to navigate a challenging run of fixtures with determination and have certainly outperformed expectations, with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City suffering crushing defeats to David Moyes's men in recent weeks.
The Hammers also claimed two points from their showdowns with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, but a trip to the champions Liverpool proved to be a step too far for West Ham as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at Anfield.
Hammers fans could have been forgiven for dreaming about ending Liverpool's astonishing home record when Pablo Fornals netted the opener, but Mohamed Salah won and converted a controversially-awarded penalty before Diogo Jota came off the bench to wrap up all three points for Liverpool.
West Ham had to make do without Michail Antonio for the trip to Merseyside and were certainly lacking that little bit extra in attack, with the less said about Sebastien Haller's performance the better, but there is no shame in losing to the champions on their own turf and West Ham can now focus on bouncing back this weekend.
Since falling to a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United in gameweek one, West Ham have since taken the spoils in three of their last four home matches in all competitions, and Moyes's men are now facing a Fulham side still awaiting their first victory on the road this season.
West Ham did the double over Fulham during the 2018-19 Premier League season - winning 2-0 at Craven Cottage before prevailing 3-1 at home two months' later.
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After losing their first Premier League home match against Fulham in November 2001 (0-2), West Ham are unbeaten in their last 10 at home against the Cottagers in the top-flight (W6 D4).
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Fulham haven't kept a clean sheet in any of their last 15 Premier League meetings with West Ham (W3 D3 L9), shipping exactly three in each of their last three away games against them.
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West Ham have won 59% of their Premier League games against Fulham (13/22), their highest ratio against any opponent they've faced at least 10 times in the competition.
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Fulham are looking to secure back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since April 2019. However, away from home the Cottagers have won just one of their last 24 Premier League matches (D3 L20).
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Fulham are winless in their last 16 Premier League London derbies (D1 L15), with their current run of 12 consecutive defeats in such matches a top-flight record.
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Since scoring with two consecutive efforts in January 2019 against Brighton, Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored with just three of his last 74 shots in the Premier League. He hasn't scored with any of his last 44 non-penalty shots with his right or left foot, since a goal against Huddersfield Town in December 2018.
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They have won only one of their last 24 Premier League away matches (D3, L20).
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Scott Parker made 109 Premier League appearances for West Ham between 2007-2011, scoring nine goals.
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West Ham have kept just two clean sheets in their 13 Premier League home games since David Moyes returned to the club (W5 D4 L4), with both of those shutouts coming in 4-0 victories (v Bournemouth in January and Wolves in September).
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West Ham have lost eight of their last 12 Premier League London derby matches (W3 D1), though they did win their last such match at home (3-2 vs Chelsea in July).
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West Ham manager David Moyes has won 12 of his 13 Premier League home meetings with Fulham, with his only failure coming in a 2-2 draw in February 2014 as Manchester United boss.
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West Ham's Manuel Lanzini has scored 10 goals in 26 Premier League London derbies, including the equaliser in the Hammers' 3-3 draw with Spurs last month. Only Carlton Cole (14) and Paolo Di Canio (11) have scored more goals in Premier League London derbies for West Ham.
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West Ham's tally of 13 goals is their third highest after seven fixtures of a Premier League campaign.