Premier League GW17 - West Ham vs Wolves

West Ham vs Wolves | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

West Ham and Wolves played a thrilling match at the London Stadium that highlighted the Hammers' attacking capabilities. David Moyes' team was out for revenge following a recent loss to Fulham, while Wolves wanted to keep surpassing preseason predictions.

West Ham:

In their final Premier League match, Fulham soundly defeated West Ham 5-0, capping up their impressive run of play. Prior to traveling to Craven Cottage, the Hammers had defeated Burnley, Nottingham Forest, and Tottenham with ease. However, Marco Silva's team defeated them all handily. David Moyes will be hoping that the outcome was an isolated incident, though, given there have been some rumors of an illness bug spreading around the team. West Ham now sits ninth in the standings, but if they defeat Wolves and Brighton and Manchester United both lose today, they may rise as high as eighth. They will also enter the match with confidence, having defeated Freiburg in the Europa League earlier in the week to secure their spot in the round of 16.

Wolves:

At the beginning of the season, Wolves were predicted to be fighting for their season, but they have defied early exceptions and are currently 10 points above the drop zone. Since the beginning of November, Gary O'Neil's team has lost three of their previous four games; their lone success during that stretch came via a thrilling comeback triumph over Tottenham. Since then, though, they've won four points from their previous two games, first tying Nottingham Forest 1-1 and defeating Burnley 1-0 at Molineux. They have also lost their last three visits to the Hammers, so they will be hoping for a rare victory at London Stadium to snap their three-game losing streak away from home.

Starting XI:

WEST HAM (4-3-3):

Lukasz Fabianski; Vladimir Coufal, Nayef Aguerd, Kurt Zouma, Emerson; Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse; Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta.

WEST HAM SUBS: Aaron Cresswell, Pablo Fornals, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Danny Ings, Angelo Ogbonna, Said Benrahma, Alphonse Areola, Thilo Kehrer, Divin Mubama.

WOLVES (3-4-3):

Dan Bentley; Maximilian Kilman, Craig Dawson, Toti Gomes; Nelson Semedo, Mario Lemina, Joao Gomes, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde; Pablo Sarabia, Hwang Hee-Chan, Matheus Cunha.

WOLVES SUBS: Matt Doherty, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Santiago Bueno, Boubacar Traore, Fabio Silva, Hugo Bueno, Sasa Kalajdzic, Tommy Doyle, Tom King.

London Stadium | Picture Credits: SportsPro Media

First Half: Kudus Double Ignites West Ham

West Ham dominated the first half, setting the tone with an incredible counterattack in the twenty-third minute. Paqueta's clever pass found Kudus after he had cleared a corner for the Wolves, and Kudus glided through the defenders before firing a crisp shot into the bottom corner. In the 32nd minute, the Brazilian team scored again, this time through Kudus' composed finish of a clinical play set up by Paqueta's accurate play-passing.

West Ham was ahead 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from Kudus' precision finishing and Paqueta's masterful playmaking. With Bowen's effort hitting the post, Wolves was unable to contain the explosive offensive combination of the Hammers. This demonstrated the might of the home team.

Second Half: Wolves' Fightback and VAR Drama

Sarabia appeared to give Wolves a response in the 58th minute, as the team demonstrated tenacity in their bid at a comeback in the second half. But after more than three minutes, VAR stepped in and declared Sarabia to be offside. Wolves played better, but in the 74th minute, West Ham scored once again. Following a deft one-two with Paqueta, Bowen scored West Ham's third goal with a stunning display of pace and accuracy.

West Ham's Convincing Triumph

Paqueta's inventiveness and Kudus's precision finishing drove West Ham to a resounding 3-0 victory over Wolves. In addition to demonstrating the Hammers' capacity to overcome setbacks, the victory showed that the Wolves defense could not contain the trio of Paqueta, Kudus, and Bowen.

When West Ham prepares for tough matches against Manchester United and Liverpool, Wolves will reorganize for their matchup with Chelsea. West Ham's explosive attacking performance will live long in the memories of this thrilling match at the London Stadium.

Kudus scored the first goal of the match | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

Kudus scored another goal for West Ham which gave them a 2-0 lead | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

Bowen scored the 3rd goal for West Ham | Picture Credits: Premier League Website