West Ham vs. Bournemouth: Opposition View

West Ham welcome Bournemouth to the London Stadium for their home opener in what promises to be a cracking match between two teams full of firepower. Bournemouth is coming off of a convincing 2-0 win over Cardiff City, while West Ham is ready to put their Liverpool loss behind them.

Bournemouth will not be resting on their laurels after defeating Premier League newcomers Cardiff City. Despite Cardiff being heavy favorites to be relegated this season Bournemouth did well to dominate their season-opening match in just about every aspect of the game.

The stats, specifically possession numbers, really tell the tale of the game, as Cardiff was restricted to just 37% of the ball. Bournemouth also converted two of their four shots on target, directing a total of 12 shots towards Cardiff’s goal. As well, the Cherries’ pressure rewarded them with seven corner kicks he help sustain their stranglehold on the game and West Ham fans are well aware of Bournemouth’s ability to convert on corners…

Bournemouth’s 4-4-2 formation means that they will rely on the speed of their front two composed of Joshua King and Callum Wilson. Both are creative and pacy, and both are very capable of giving defenders headaches trying to track their counterattacking runs. Whoever Pellegrini selects out of Ogbonna, Balbuena, and Diop to be the center back pairing will have their hands full with these two.

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The key man in the Bournemouth offense, despite their two-striker formation, is Ryan Fraser. The right midfielder scored the opener against Cardiff and is incredibly fast down the wing. He jumps up in attack without hesitation and was able to give Pablo Zabaleta fits last season.

Bournemouth’s record transfer Jefferson Lerma could also be in the starting XI for the trip to East London. The Colombian international joined Bournemouth from Levante of LaLiga for £25 million. Lerma, who is just 23-years-old, is a solid building block for Bournemouth and did just have a solid World Cup for Colombia, but that left him unavailable to play in the season opener.

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The Cherries will have a tough task matching a motivated West Ham team. Look for Pellegrini’s 4-1-4-1 formation he used against Liverpool to switch to an aggressive 4-2-2-2; more strikers, more players forward, more immediate pressure.

The Bournemouth game plan should be to weather the immediate storm from a team who desperately wants to distance themselves from their embarrassing loss to Liverpool. West Ham’s record transfer Felipe Anderson will likely try to make an impact, while newcomer Yarmolenko may also factor into first-team selection.

As always, watch out for Arnautovic up top, especially if Chicharito is slotted in beside him. The dynamic duo caused a fair bit of magic last season when they played together. The bruting style of Arnautovic tends to open space for Hernandez which tends to lead to goals. Defensive stud Nathan Ake and veteran Steven Cook will have to lead from the back for Bournemouth and shut down the new look West Ham.

It should be a spirited match between two teams ready to take the next step. Both managers, Pellegrini and Eddie Howe, are viewing this match as winnable for their sides. For West Ham, Bournemouth has solid talent but player-to-player are not an equal match to the Hammers. For Bournemouth, West Ham is a team not yet gelled and one reeling from a loss. Both teams are ready to strike and take all three points.