West Ham vs Wolves: The Inside Track on West Ham's next opposition

Ahead of West Ham’s match against Wolves, I got the inside track on the midland based side from Joe Edwards a Wolves correspondent for the Express and Star and Shropshire to get a better idea of the opposition.

We are very excited for football to return, and the Hammers have a big game coming up fast. Wolves are no easy match, West Ham hasn’t beaten them since their promotion to the Premier League. Now would be the perfect time for the Hammers to get their first win over Wolves since 2016 in the FA cup.

Joe (@JoeEdwards_Star) has also provided a good view from an outside perspective on the current situation at West Ham and whether or not the club will stay in the Premier League or not.

1. How have Wolves been preparing during the lockdown?

It has been a gradual process, as I am sure it has been for West Ham, too. First was several weeks of training at home, then individual training at their Compton base before training in small groups of up to five without contact and, finally, contact training.

2. Which players do Wolves have back from injury?

Wolves did not have any severe injuries before the break, but Jonny Castro Otto had missed a few games with a slight problem which he should now be over, so he would be likely to come in for Ruben Vinagre at left-wing-back.

Morgan Gibbs-White, who will probably be on the bench, has also had niggling problems throughout the season and while he has been training over the past week or so, I think they’ll be monitoring him closely. No fresh injuries I’m aware of.

3. Who will be the danger men in the match?

Wolves’ attacking trio of Raul Jimenez, Diogo Jota and Adama Traore has got the better of many defences over the course of the campaign. Jimenez is the real danger man, you would say, having scored 22 goals in 44 games in all competitions this season.

4. How will the squad perform without fans?

They should be OK. After all, they have played in many different environments this term has been in the Europa League, too, including a behind-closed-doors game at Olympiacos. It is only one game, of course, but they at least have some recent experience of playing in an empty ground.

5. What are the hopes for Wolves for the end of the season?

To pick up where they left off, really. They had risen to sixth and the hope is to see it through and get European football again – particularly given the run of fixtures looks quite nice (the only team above them in the nine games left are Chelsea).

Related Story. Fast start key for West Ham against Wolves. light

6. What do you think of West Ham this season? Will they stay up?

To be honest, from the outside looking in, it seems like quite a mess. The squad is certainly good enough to stay up, though. Maybe playing in front of no fans may actually help them, given there appears to be a big disconnect between the club and supporters at the minute. I’ll say they will just about survive.

7. Score prediction?

Of course, it is a big game for the Hammers, but Wolves have plenty to play for too and if they are on it, Nuno’s lot should come out on top. I will say 2-1 Wolves.

So it’s not a positive prediction for West Ham’s point of view from Joe, let’s hope David Moyes has something special up his sleeve and pull off a shock. A win against Wolves could push the Hammers up to 15th place and further away from the drop-zone.

West Ham vs Wolves: The Inside Track

By Henry Tomlinson | Jun 4, 2020