West Ham vs Fulham Prediction: Home side can win London derby

West Ham return to Premier League action on Sunday afternoon (14:00), as they host Fulham in a bid to qualify for the Europa League again. The Hammers have a serious chance of finishing above Manchester United in sixth spot, which would be enough to see them in Europe again next season.

David Moyes’ side held out for 80 minutes against Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday, before conceding two goals late on against the Bundesliga leaders. It’s not the worst result, and they may fancy their chances of an epic turnaround at the London Stadium on Thursday. 

However, first they must turn their attention to Fulham, who are safe from relegation and have nothing to play for. Here’s my West Ham vs Fulham prediction, featuring team news and match odds.

Team News

West Ham are going to be without Jarrod Bowen after he suffered severe spinal bruising against Wolves in their last league outing. That is likely to keep him out of action for this one, but there’s an outside shout he could return for the second leg against Leverkusen. Edson Alvarez will come back into the team after his European suspension but Alphonse Areola remains out with a groin issue. 

Fulham are in a unique position in the Premier League, as they have no current first-team injuries. Raul Jiminez and Armando Broja are back fit and both came on in the last Premier League game - and either could come in from the start if Marco Silva wants to give Rodrigo Muniz a rest. Harry Wilson could also be brought into the XI.

Match Odds

West Ham are priced at 11/8 to win this game, giving them an implied win probability of 42%. Fulham can be backed at 15/8 and a draw is available at 5/2. If you fancy some goals, BTTS is 1/2 and over 2.5 goals is 8/13. 

West Ham to win @ 11/8

This is fairly straightforward in my eyes and I believe 11/8 is a good price for a home win. Fulham are not in great form, have lost their last two, and they’ve only won three away matches all season. Meanwhile, West Ham have only lost one of their last seven in the league, and that was the game they threw away at St James’ Park. 

Moyes has his side firing, and I don’t expect the Europa League to give them too much of a hangover, especially given they are still in the tie. It’s disappointing that Bowen is missing this one, but they should still have enough to come out on top against a Fulham outfit that has only picked up one point from their last three fixtures against Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle. Home win in my book. 

PickYourPunt - Mohammed Kudus to score, West Ham to win and BTTS @ 11/2

Something a little different for our second selection here, focusing on the home win. We’ve already given our reasons for that one, so let’s explain the other picks. Both teams have scored in seven of the last 10 Fulham games, while both teams have scored in each of the Hammers’ last seven Premier League outings. 

These two should provide goals, and given Fulham scored five in the reverse fixture, I’m happy to add this to our bet. The other pick is Mohammed Kudus to score anytime. In the absence of Bowen, Kudus picks up the mantle as West Ham’s pacy attacking threat, and he looked good in Germany in midweek. If Michail Antonio starts up front, I expect him to occupy the centre-backs, which should in theory give the wide man more space to operate in. 

He’s got seven league goals to his name already, and I think he could step up the plate in a high-scoring encounter. 

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