Fulham vs West Ham United preview: Head-to-head, team news, lineups and prediction

West Ham United travel from east London to west London on Saturday to face Fulham in the second London derby of the season at Craven Cottage.

These two teams are currently 12th and 13th in the Premier League, with Fulham picking up four points from their first three games while West Ham have picked up just three points from three games.

Although Fulham beat West Ham twice last season, the Hammers had won five of their previous six meetings.

Fulham fans may be a little disappointed with their 13th-place finish last season. The Cottagers managed to avoid relegation, but this was a drop on the previous year.

Marco Silva's side began the new season with a challenging game against Manchester United at Old Trafford, losing 1-0 – although the result was somewhat flattering for the hosts as Fulham wasted numerous chances. The Cottagers bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Leicester City before drawing with newly promoted Ipswich Town before half-time.

Against Ipswich, Liam Delap scored his first goal since joining from Manchester City with a well-placed shot in the 15th minute, but the impressive Adama Traore equalised for Fulham with a low shot before half-time.

Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno made several crucial saves after the break, preventing Ipswich from winning their first top-flight match since April 2002.

Rodrigo Muniz, Emile Smith Rowe, Alex Iwobi and Raul Jimenez all had chances, but Ipswich's goal was never under consistent pressure.

This draw confirmed their record of never having won more than one of their first three Premier League games since 2008.

The Cottagers are aiming for a place in the top half of the table this season and can be optimistic given their recent dominance over Saturday's visitors. Last season they recorded a stunning 5-0 victory when West Ham visited Craven Cottage and won their two meetings with the Hammers by an aggregate score of 7-0.

West Ham, on the other hand, is entering a new era. David Moyes left the club at the end of last season after securing a place in the top half of the table. The Scot, who led West Ham to European success the previous year, was replaced by Julen Lopetegui.

This is Lopetegui's second stint as manager of a Premier League team after his time at Wolves, but his start has been rocky. The Hammers lost their opening game against Aston Villa, beat Crystal Palace in their first London derby of the season and went down to the top after a defeat to Defending champions Manchester City.

Erling Haaland opened the scoring early in the first half before Ruben Dias headed the ball into his net following a cross from Jarrod Bowen to equalise the game.

The equaliser gave West Ham a fresh impetus to the game, but City regained control and went back in front 11 minutes later. This time it was the impressive Rico Lewis who provided the assist, firing a powerful shot over Areola after just one touch.

Lukasz Fabianski came on for Areola at half-time but the east Londoners remained composed and almost equalised for a second time when Mohammed Kudus, fed by Bowen, saw his shot hit the bar.

City then finally took control of the game when Matheus Nunes played a perfectly weighted pass to send Haaland through, and he secured his eleventh hat-trick for the club and the 24th of his career with his trademark high shot.

The Hammers will now look to end their two-game losing streak against Fulham when these two sides face each other on Saturday.

Match Details Fulham vs West Ham United

• Date: Saturday, September 14, 2024
• Location: London, England
• Venue: Craven Cottage
• Kick-off time: 14:00 UTC, 15:00 BST
• Referee: Tim Robinson
• Assistant referees: Timothy Wood, Steve Meredith
• Fourth Official: Sunny Gill
• VAR: Paul Tierney
• VAR Assistant: Ian Hussin
• Tickets: Fulham vs. West Ham Tickets can be purchased through the clubs or through the trusted reseller Seatsnet.com.

Match statistics and direct comparison

•These two teams have met 109 times, with West Ham winning 51 times, Fulham winning 24 times and 24 of those matches ending in draws.

• Fulham have kept just one clean sheet in their last eight Premier League games.

• In the last ten meetings between these two teams there have been at least three clean sheets and both teams have scored in three of the last ten games.

• Jarrod Bowen will be looking to continue his impressive away goalscoring form, with nine of his last 17 goals coming away from the London Stadium.

• The Hammers have scored at least one goal in their last five Premier League games, with the last time they failed to score coming in a 5-0 defeat to Chelsea in May.

• Marco Silva has kept his Fulham side compact this season, allowing no more than five shots on goal in any of their matches this season. Since conceding five shots on goal against United in the opening week, the Cottagers have only had four shots saved against Leicester and Ipswich and two against Birmingham City in the EFL Cup.

About the team

Against City, Julen Lopetegui gave Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who joined the Premier League in the summer, his debut and Vladimir Coufal sat on the bench.

Lukasz Fabianski replaced Alphonse Areola at half-time against City and will look to take up a position between the sticks if Areola is not fully fit before the game.

Aaron Cresswell is West Ham's longest-missed player and is unlikely to return for this game.

Michael Antonio started up front against City, but he faces tough competition, especially after Niclas Füllkrug impressed for the national team.

At Fulham, Marco Silva was in perfect health before the international break and hopes that none of his international players have suffered any damage during their international appearances.

Joachim Andersen could start in the Premier League for the first time this season.

Summer signings Joachim Anderson and Sander Berge are hoping to be in the starting eleven this weekend against West Ham.

Although Anderson has already played for Crystal Palace against Brentford in the Premier League this season, the Danish international has yet to play for his new club since his move in the summer.

forecast

Fulham will be looking to secure their third consecutive win over their London rivals in this Saturday's encounter.

Although the draw against Ipswich could be described as disappointing, the Cottagers have performed impressively this season and could have at least picked up a point from their opening loss to United.

West Ham, on the other hand, has not yet found its rhythm and has suffered two defeats in the Premier League so far.

Their second-half performance against City was impressive and they could have taken the lead after the break. They will be looking to build on that performance but face the difficult task of getting around Fulham's compact block.

Although Fulham have not conceded a goal in their last two matches, both teams are expected to score, but overall it should not be a low-scoring match.

We predict a 2-1 win for West Ham.