It’s the first London Derby of the season and there’ll be added excitement around Upton Park as we all look forward to seeing Andy Carroll for the first time after he completed his loan move from Liverpool yesterday.
The prospect of seeing Andy Carroll linking up with his old Newcastle team mate – and best friend – Kevin Nolan, as well as record signing Matt Jarvis, has got Hammers fans looking optimistically into the future.
We hope that last weekend’s 3-0 loss away to Swansea was just a ‘bad day at the office’ and that the team can compose themselves against a Fulham side who have made an impressive start to the season, despite losing to Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup during the week.
With Big Sam making 10 signings this summer, it is clear the he and the club’s owners are making a real statement of intent to establish themselves as a force in the Premier League.
The signings we have already made have impressed, while the ones we haven’t seen yet – or the ones who haven’t featured much – still have their chance to show us why Big Sam brought them to club.
The Cottagers lost Mousa Dembele to Tottenham in the week, which only weakened them for a couple of days until they secured the signing of Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov earlier today (Friday).
However, the impending departure of talisman Clint Dempsey will hurt the most.
Depsite Dempsey’s absence, though, they got off to a good start at home to Norwich with a 5-0 win and showed signs of an upset at Old Trafford last weekend, but narrowly lost 3-2.
Boss Martin Jol seems to be rebuilding his Fulham side with quality players like Berbatov, while his current players seem to be revitalised and in good form early on.
Hammers boss Sam Allardyce will see this as a must-win game and he will be demanding that his players turn Upton Park into a fortress and improve on last season’s home form, which could have jeopardized their promotion bid.
__________
Team News
West Ham United (10th, 3pts)
New signing Andy Carroll is expected to make his Hammers debut, while record-signing Matt Jarvis will play his first game at Upton Park for the Hammers.
Jussi Jaaskelainen, Mark Noble, Carlton Cole, Mohamed Diame could all be recalled to the starting XI after sitting out the cup tie with Crewe in the week.
Jack Collison is still sidelined with a knee injury.
Fulham (6th, 3pts)
New signings Kieron Richardson and Dimitar Berbatov could feature depending on whether they completed their signings in time to be registered for the tie.
Forward Clint Dempsey is expected to have left the club by the start of the game, but won’t play if he remains at Fulham.
Kerim Frei (pelvis) and Philippe Senderos (foot) are still injured.
__________
The Match in Numbers
5 – The Hammers have won their last five home games in all competitions.
4 – Since signing for the Hammers, captain Kevin Nolan has not gone more than four games without scoring.
50 – Nolan will make his 50th appearance for West Ham.
150 – If he starts, Carlton Cole will make his 150th start in claret & blue.
6 – Carlton Cole has scored six goals in his last six Premier League appearances against Fulham.
17 – Seventeen different players have represented both clubs throughout their careers – the most notable players being West Ham legends Bobby Moore MBE and Ron Greenwood.
1 – Fulham have won just one of their eight Premier League visits to Upton Park.
30 – Fulham have the worst overall away record in the Premier League – amongst the clubs who have played at least 150 games on the road – winning just 30 of their 210 away days.
1 – Martin Jol’s side have drawn just one of their last 17 Premier League matches.
__________
Head-to-Head (all competitions)
West Ham United – 37
Draws – 20
Fulham – 28
__________
