Jimmy – Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham
It’s been a pretty brutal summer for the Hammers so far with the departures of Rice and Gianluca Scamacca, but the signing of Alvarez fixes one massive hole in the midfield at least.
But with those two potentially signing so close to match day 1 and Moyes’ tendency to ease new signings into the squad I doubt either of them feature much, if at all, in the match.
With all that being said, away at Bournemouth to start the season shouldn’t be too difficult of a task but with all the chaos around the club right now I find it hard seeing a win on Saturday, so I’ll go with a draw to kick off the new campaign.
Lou – Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham
This match, I feel, is going to be very difficult coming up against a new-look Bournemouth side. This, paired with the fact that Moyes’ side has been looking very patchy towards the end of pre-season, doesn’t leave too much room for confidence.
It was only a few months ago when we visited the Vitality Stadium and blew the Cherries away winning 4-0, but it would take a bold supporter to predict a similar outcome again.
I hope that Alvarez is ready to step straight into midfield as we are sorely lacking in that department at the moment. If he does, it provides instant balance which could lay a foundation for our attacking players to flourish.
I will predict an optimistic score draw, but wouldn’t be surprised at an opening day loss for the Hammers.