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West Ham looks to continue the momentum from their victory at Crystal Palace last week, when they return to their new home vs Sunderland Saturday afternoon at the Olympic Stadium.
Manager Slaven Bilic certainly is relieved to have a week of preparation off the back of a win for a change, as he hopes all three points at Selhurst Park will provide a run of form seeing them back inside the top half of the table. That should happen against a Sunderland side destined for another season long fight in the relegation zone, a place West Ham surely hope they will no longer be near after their 18th place league position last weekend.
Mired in last as the only team in the division without a win and two draws from their first eight games, Sunderland is once again facing intense pressure from their fans. As mentioned in the match preview, Jermain Defoe is the only reliable goalscorer for the Black Cats, finishing four of his team’s meager six goal tally thus far, as manager David Moyes could be sacked from yet another job if results don’t turn around soon.
Injuries have contributed greatly to both sides having poor starts to their season, and key absences will once again be felt in their upcoming encounter. The Hammers will still be without the likes of Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew, Arthur Masuaku, Gokhan Tore, Diafra Sakho and Sam Byram. Add on Aaron Cresswell not having his dubious sending off last week rescinded and thus seeing him suspended for this fixture, and it’s another week of lineup headaches for Bilic to manage.
Meanwhile, Sunderland will be absent some of their prime performers again. Fabio Borini, Lee Cattermole, Vito Mannone, Jan Kirchkoff, Adnan Januzaj, and Seb Larsson are all out for Moyes.
Lineups to be announced one hour before kick off, stay tuned.
MATCH INFO, HOW TO WATCH ON TV, ONLINE
Date/Time: Saturday, October 22, 3:00 PM local London Time, 10 AM ET in United States/Canada
Venue: Olympic Stadium, London
TV/Radio Listings: BBC Radio, NBC Sports Live Extra, TalkSport Live World, DirecTV
Online Streaming: NBC Sports Live (U.S.), Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, NBC Sports Live, NBC Universo, elsewhere
LINEUPS
West Ham XI: Adrian; Reid, Kouyaté, Ogbonna; Antonio, Noble, Obiang, Ribeiro; Lanzini, Zaza, Payet.
Sunderland XI: Pickford; Manquillo, O'Shea, Kone, van Aanholt; Ndong, Rodwell, Pienaar; Khazri, Watmore, Defoe.