Analysing West Ham ahead of Saturday’s clash | OneFootball

An in-depth look at our opponents this weekend…

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We head to the London Stadium in a 20:00 (UK) kick-off on Saturday, seeking to keep tabs with leaders Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola’s side currently have 60 points from 29 games, seven points off Arsenal with a game in hand.

We beat West Ham 3-0 at the Etihad back in December, thanks to an Erling Haaland brace either side of a Tijjani Reijnders strike.

With the help of Opta data, we analyse the team we’ll face on Saturday…

Recent form

The Hammers sit 18th in the Premier League with 28 points from 29 matches, with seven wins and seven draws.

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However, they’ve greatly improved in recent weeks with two wins and two draws in their last five outings.

That’s left them level on points with Nottingham Forest and one behind Tottenham Hotspur in the battle to avoid relegation.

Preferred lineup

They’re tended to play a compact 4-5-1 that can become a 4-3-3 when in possession.

Mads Hermansen has reclaimed his place in goal from Alphonse Areola, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf are the first choice full-backs.

Axel Disasi and Konstantinos Mavropanos have recently formed a central defensive partnership, but Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo are also frequent options in the role.

Mateus Fernandes is the key ball player in midfield, with Soungoufou Magassa and Tomas Soucek doing a lot of leg work.

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Crysencio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen are the stars out on the wing, but Summerville looks likely to miss this game through injury.

Through the middle, Callum Wilson or Taty Castellanos have tended to start since the latter’s arrival in January.

Manager

Nuno Espirito Santo enjoyed an incredible 2024/25, leading Nottingham Forest into European football.

However, he left the City Ground early in this campaign and resurfaced at West Ham in late September.

Having been in charge of the likes of Valencia, Porto, Wolves and Spurs, he’s got plenty of experience at some of Europe’s biggest sides.

Since taking over, he’s won six of his 24 games in charge – building on his Premier League record of 80 wins in 210 matches.

Head-to-head record

Pep Guardiola is unbeaten in all 19 of his Premier League games against West Ham, the most a manager has faced an opponent without ever losing in the competition.

In fact, we’ve won 17 of those!

Meanwhile, Erling Haaland’s 11 goals against West Ham is more than he’s scored against any other opponent.

Across the Premier League era in its entirety, we’ve played West Ham 49 times and won 32 of them, scoring 96 goals and conceding 44.

How they attack

With 35 goals, West Ham are outperforming several of the sides around them near the bottom of the table.

They’ve also scored those goals from an xG of exactly 35, suggesting they’re taking chances as could reasonably be expected.

They’re the quickest starters in the entire division, with their nine goals in the first 15 minutes of matches better than anyone else.

With five goals on fast breaks, they’re the fourth best in the Premier League in that scenario, so we’ll have to be wary of transitions.

Their average of 375 passes completed per match is the 18th most in the league, while only Burnley average less possession than them, so expect a direct approach.

As has been the case for several years now, Bowen is their biggest goal threat with eight strikes so far, while Wilson and the injured Summerville have five each.

Bowen is also joint-top when it comes to assists, with marauding left-back Diouf level with him on five.

How they defend

West Ham’s 54 goals conceded so far is the second worst in the goal, with only Burnley letting in more at this stage.

And that’s come from an xG of just 46.4, with the -7.6 difference the worst in the league – suggesting sides are taking chances at a better rate against them than would normally be expected.

They’re more susceptible to headed goals than anyone in the Premier League, with the 16 they’ve conceded the most in the division.

We’ll be aiming to take advantage of set pieces because West Ham are the worst at keeping them out in the Premier League, allowing 21 in.

While they’re the best starters in terms of scoring in the opening 15 minutes, that is a high risk strategy as they’ve also let in eight goals in that time.