West Ham United return to the London Stadium on Saturday night knowing that victory over Bournemouth can lift them out of the bottom three.
The Hammers are third from bottom in Round 27, three points adrift of 17th place.
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West Ham United need maximum points plus a swing on goal difference to escape the relegation zone.
Standing in West Ham’s way is an in-form Bournemouth side who are back in the top half after an impressive performance.
Game preview
West Ham United’s performance has gradually improved since Nuno Espirito Santo took over after the fifth week game, but the performance in recent weeks has been really encouraging.
The Ironmen have picked up 10 points from their last 5 Premier League games (3 wins, 1 draw, 1 draw), as many points as they had in the previous 15 games.
West Ham drew 1-1 with Manchester United in the last round and failed to achieve back-to-back league wins, but momentum is building at a critical stage of the season.
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History also favors the hosts.
West Ham are unbeaten in their last nine Premier League games against Bournemouth (W3, D6) and have not lost to the Cherries since January 2019.
However, Andoni Iraola’s men arrived with full confidence.
Bournemouth are unbeaten in 6 league games (4 wins, 2 draws) and no team has won more league games so far in 2026 than the Cherries (4).
Interestingly, the last five league meetings between these two teams have ended in draws, something West Ham will be desperate to prevent.
Match statistics
In August 2015, Bournemouth defeated West Ham United away from home and achieved their first victory in the Premier League.
Unfortunately, since then they have won just one of their last seven games against the Hammers (D3, L3).
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It is worth noting that the last five Premier League meetings between Bournemouth and West Ham have ended in draws.
There have only been three consecutive 6+ games in the competition, including two for the Hammers.
West Ham will be worried as they have dropped more points from winning positions than any other team in the Premier League this season (20 points), with Bournemouth in third place (18 points).
West Ham United News
Jean-Clair Todibo, 26, returns from suspension and is available for selection. However, Nuno is likely to retain Axel Disasi alongside Constantinos Mavropanos at centre-back.
Freddie Potts serves a three-game ban to start, meaning Olympic silver medalist Sugutu Magatha is likely to earn a place in the squad.
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Meanwhile, Pablo Felipe (Mavericks) isn’t ready to return. Lukasz Fabianski also remains sidelined.
West Ham United Prediction XI (4-2-3-1)
Mads Hermansson; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Axel Disasi, El-Haji Malik Diouf; Mateusz Fernandez, Soungoutou Magassa; Bowen, Tomas Soucek, Crissencio Somerville; Tati Castellanos.