West Ham United vs Huddersfield Town. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance56,977.
Monday 11 September 2017 20:22, UK
West Ham will finally play their first home game of the season as Huddersfield travel to the London Stadium for Monday Night Football, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7pm.
The Hammers, who were forced to play their first three matches of the season on the road due to the Athletics World Championships last month, are yet to pick up a point.
"My job is to raise the performance," said West Ham boss Slaven Bilic. "We didn't start well but Monday is a good opportunity to start winning games and get on the right tracks."
That's in huge contrast to newly-promoted Huddersfield, who have seven points so far and are yet to concede a goal. Their start to the season saw boss David Wagner named Manager of the Month for August.
Andy Carroll is in the West Ham squad for the first time this season. The striker has recovered from his latest injury lay-off, a thigh problem, and is joined by fit-again defender Winston Reid (calf).
But midfield duo Manuel Lanzini (knee) and Edimilson Fernandes (ankle) are out injured while winger Marko Arnautovic completes a three-match ban.
Huddersfield's latest signings Abdelhamid Sabiri and Florent Hadergjonaj are both in contention to make their Town debuts at West Ham.
Midfielder Sabiri and defender Hadergjonaj featured in Sunday's friendly win against Altona 93 in Germany and are likely to be named in David Wagner's squad.
Goalkeeper Rob Green, signed recently from Leeds, could also be included. Striker Collin Quaner (knee) will be monitored, while all eight internationals have returned in good health.
This will be the first league meeting between the teams since March 1972, a game West Ham won 3-0 at Upton Park. The sides met more recently in the League Cup in the 1997/98 campaign, with West Ham winning 3-1 on aggregate in the second round, with John Hartson scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win in the second leg.
This is only the second Premier League season that West Ham United have started with three defeats. In the other; 2010-11, they ended bottom of the league.
Huddersfield haven't won back to back away matches in the top-flight since their final two away games of the 1955/56 campaign.
If Huddersfield win this match, they'll equal the 2017 Premier League points tally of both Sunderland and Middlesbrough (10 points in 19 games).
Joe Hart has conceded as many goals in three Premier League games as a West Ham player than he did in his final 10 appearances for Manchester City in the competition (10).
Huddersfield's Jonas Lossl is looking to become only the fourth goalkeeper in Premier League history to keep a clean sheet in each of his first four appearances in the competition, after Pepe Reina, Alex Manninger and Anders Lindegaard.
36.3% of Huddersfield's passes in the Premier League this season have been in the attacking third of the pitch; a league-high.
West Ham United have allowed their opponents a league-high nine clear-cut chances in front of goal this season, from which they have conceded eight goals.
Slaven Bilic needs a win. It's West Ham's first home game of the season and the fans will be turning up expecting the team to put on a show and beat Huddersfield. I wouldn't want to be a West Ham player in the first 20 minutes of this match. If they don't score early doors it could be messy because the frustration will build in the stands.
You wouldn't put a penny on West Ham but if they get an early goal it could well turn into an easy night for them. However, if and Huddersfield keep things tight, the more the game goes on the more difficult it becomes for Bilic's men.
My heart is going with the Londoners, who have been there before and have home advantage. But they are not playing well and they are up against an in-form side in Huddersfield. I'm just going to go for West Ham but again, I would not be surprised one bit if Huddersfield picked up all three points.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (15/2 with Sky Bet)
