Preview: Millwall host West Ham in first Dockers derby for 14 years | OneFootball

West Ham travel to The Den on Saturday to face rivals Millwall, with the Hammers looking to make it five league wins in a row and remain at the top of the league.

West Ham last visited The Den in 2011, when the two sides played a goalless draw in the Championship.

When the fixtures were released, this was one of the first games that caught the eye. Despite being huge rivals, West Ham and Millwall have rarely met in recent years, mainly because of the Hammers’ long-term presence in the Premier League.

Saturday’s game will be the 100th competitive meeting between the two sides, with Millwall winning 38 times, four more than the Hammers.

West Ham have never won at The New Den, with their last away win at Millwall coming in 1988 when Paul Ince scored the winner.

The Dockers derby last took place in February 2012, when 10-man West Ham won 2-1 at Upton Park, with Winston Reid scoring a controversial winner.

Going into the game, West Ham were in great form, having won their last four league matches to move to the top of the league after a poor start to the season.

As for the hosts, expectations were high after Millwall reached the playoffs last season. The Lions made a successful start to the campaign, but recent results have seen them drop down the table. Sitting 11th after seven games, Millwall have won just one of their last four league matches.

West Ham played Fulham on Tuesday evening in the Carabao Cup, losing 3-2, but their league form makes them favourites going into Saturday’s clash. Joël Veltman may miss out after picking up a knock against Wrexham, while Tomáš Souček could return to the matchday squad for the first time this season after returning to training.

Soungoutou Magassa could make his first appearance of the season after returning to the matchday squad on Tuesday. Having failed to secure a move away from the club, the midfielder has found himself out of the squad since the start of the campaign.

The Lions were also in action on Tuesday, drawing 2-2 with Middlesbrough in the Championship despite being without 11 players.

Those injury concerns are expected to carry over to Saturday’s derby, with Romain Esse, Alfie Doughty, Lukas Jensen, Josh Coburn, Casper De Norre, Tristan Crama, Ryan Leonard, Mihailo Ivanović, Mathis Servais and Massimo Luongo all set to miss out.

Hammers captain and talisman Jarrod Bowen spoke ahead of the clash: “It’s a rivalry that hasn’t had the fixture for however many years, so it’s one I’m sure both sets of fans are looking forward to. We want to win, for the fans and the club. There’s nothing we need to do differently, because we’re in a really good place.”

Millwall boss Alex Neil also spoke ahead of Saturday’s derby, admitting he is interested to see how West Ham handle The Den.

“It’ll be interesting to see how West Ham handle The Den and different things like that, and hopefully the atmosphere’s very good. What I will guarantee is our lads will leave absolutely everything on the pitch as they always do. We’ll be ready.”

The game will kick off at 12:30 pm (BST), with UK viewers able to watch live on ITV and Sky Sports.