West Ham United vs Sunderland. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance56,985.
Saturday 22 October 2016 13:55, UK
West Ham will be hoping to improve on their poor home form when bottom-of-the-league Sunderland visit the London Stadium on Saturday.
The Hammers have yet to settle in to their new surroundings since leaving the Bolyen Ground, taking just four points from a possible 12 and conceding eight goals.
However, they did secure their first win in six Premier League games at Crystal Palace last week, which eased some of the pressure on Slaven Bilic.
His opposite number, David Moyes, could do with a similar boost this weekend as Sunderland are the only Premier League without win this season.
Aaron Cresswell is suspended for West Ham after picking up two bookable offences on his return from injury against Palace.
Andy Carroll was back in light training but has suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury.
Sam Byram, Gokhan Tore, Diafra Sakho and Arthur Masuaku are all out.
Defenders Lamine Kone and Patrick van Aanholt are fit for Sunderland.
Kone missed last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Stoke with a hamstring problem, while Van Aanholt lasted just 40 minutes before having to leave the field with an adductor strain.
Goalkeeper Vito Mannone (fractured elbow) and midfielder Sebastian Larsson (knee) are back in light training, while winger Adnan Januzaj is expected to join them next week and Jason Denayer, Jan Kirchhoff and Lee Cattermole are not far behind, leaving striker Fabio Borini (groin) as the only long-term absentee.
West Ham are unbeaten in six Premier League fixtures against Sunderland (W3 D3).
Sunderland have won just one of their last 11 away Premier League games against the Hammers, losing eight times (D2). This is their first game at the London Stadium.
Jermain Defoe made 74 Premier League appearances for West Ham between 2001 and 2003. He's scored six times in the Premier League against his former club since leaving. West Ham boss Bilic scored one of his two Premier League goals against Sunderland for the Hammers in December 1996.
The Hammers have kept more home clean sheets (nine) against Sunderland than against any other Premier League opposition and haven't conceded in any of their last three.
Moyes is unbeaten in his last 12 Premier League meetings against West Ham (W8 D4), not losing since April 2007 when manager of Everton (0-1 at Upton Park).
Sunderland are only the second team in top-flight history to fail to win any of their opening eight league games in consecutive seasons (after Bury in 1905-06).
These two sides have used the most players this season in the Premier League, with Sunderland fielding 26 different players to West Ham's 24.
West Ham are looking to record back-to-back wins for the first time since the end of April.
No team has conceded more times in the opening 15 minutes of the first half than Sunderland this season (three), while West Ham have conceded the most in the opening 15 minutes of the second half (four).
Sunderland are struggling, and West Ham had a really good result at Palace and played superbly in the first half.
I can't see anything different here. It's the perfect game for them to get back-to-back wins for the first time this season, with Sunderland bottom of the league without winning a game. But West Ham have to get through the first 20 minutes positively.
Sunderland have had a lot of injuries to be fair, you've got to feel sorry for them, they haven't had a lot of luck so far.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (12/1 with Sky Bet)
West Ham are the odds-on favourites at 7/10 with Sky Bet to claim three points at home to bottom-of-the-table Sunderland on Saturday afternoon. The struggling Black Cats are priced up at 18/5 to return north with the win and the draw is on offer at 29/10.
Hammers duo Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio can't be split as the joint-favourites at 9/2 in Sky Bet's first goalscorer odds. Sunderland striker Defoe, who is up against his former employers, can be backed at 6/1 to open the scoring.
West Ham v Sunderland is included in this week's Soccer Saturday Super 6 line-up. Enter your predictions here for the chance to win £250,000.
