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West Ham vs Wolves: Premier League – live | Premier League

West Ham vs Wolves: Premier League – live | Premier League

Important events

18 minutes: In a VERY Sunday League-typical move, Summerville has to take off his undershirt, which doesn’t seem to clash with the rest of his gear.

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15 minutes: “I’m sitting on the sofa next to Molineux,” writes Peter Higginson via email. “If Gary O’Neill can drink 20 teas a day, I can eat 20 meatballs like I do. I predict a Wolves defeat and Gary won’t be there tomorrow.”

Twenty meatballs! Peter! I am in awe.

Kind of reminds me of Superpedjason on Instagram, who is also a miracle of a man.

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13 mins: Excellent performance from Lemina as she came back and took the ball from a leaping Bowen who strode forward with intent. The Gabonese is a very useful footballer for Wolves.

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11 mins: Summerville, who plays on the left wing for West Ham, has looked very good. By the way, for the hosts, Bowen plays as a central striker, with Kudus on the right, but he is sandwiched in so that Wan-Bissaka can break forward from the right side of defense (just like he did at Newcastle).

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9 minutes: There is applause throughout the stadium for Antonio, who is wearing West Ham’s number 9 shirt. Jamaica flags also hang in the stands. Hopefully Antonio will watch this from the hospital and get a boost from it.

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7 minutes: The Wolves concede a cheap free kick right on the left touchline. They have conceded 13 goals from set pieces this season, by far the worst record in the Premier League. West Ham’s Summerville throws a dangerous ball at the front post, but Alvarez misses his shot. The Mexican should have done better.

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4 minutes: West Ham have settled in well. The Wolves didn’t really have a kick yet.

West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus bustles past the challenge of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Mario Lemina. Photo: Tony O’Brien/Reuters
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2 minutes: A few home fans in the stands show off their Antonio jerseys in support of the worn-out striker.

Michail Antonio’s teammates also showed their support during the warm-up. Photo: Zac Goodwin/PA
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Updated at

Peeeeeeeeep! The game begins as bubbles float gently across the board.

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The teams are out! West Ham in their wine red and blue, Wolves in their old gold. It’s nice to see the two teams not as they should be.

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Except Gary O’Neil drinks 20 cups of tea a dayI’m also worried about how much time he spends on the toilet. If an average cup of tea contains 300 ml and he drinks 20, that’s six liters or a lot of liquid.

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“I hope so, if Lopetegui Finally gets the tip that Mark Noble gets the job as manager,” writes Ian Burch via email. “The local man, club legend and Sullivan supporter will turn down the offer of a club car so he can take the bus to home games, is used to dealing with angry Hammers fans storming the pitch and can instill discipline in the team, by showing up” with a plan for players to clean up the locker room after games. He can also be counted on to add alcohol back to the players’ pre-game pie-and-mash meals, a ban that saw Lopetegui lose the locker room on the first day.”

Could Julen Lopetegui have been lost in his thoughts about cake, porridge and alcohol before kick-off? Photo: Adam Davy/PA
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Should repeat West Ham’s performance against Leicester wasn’t bad at all, at least offensively. They had 31 shots with an xG of 3.1. No team has played and lost the game in more than seven years.

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Lopetegui speaks!

To Antonio:

What is more important is that the person, the father, the son, the brother that he is, is doing well. We spoke to him today.

About wolves:

Our approach is to do well against a good team. It won’t be an easy task. There were a few positives after we lost at Leicester, but the most important thing is today’s game.

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Is it possible to lose the locker room? based on your caffeine intake? There is definitely an absolute loss of pressure here.

Not every Wolves fan took this tea revelation well.

“No wonder we are so (terrible) when our manager spends all his waking hours in front of a (bleeding) kettle,” one supporter tweeted on Friday.

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Seems very strange to me that Lopetegui has once again left Paqueta on the bench, particularly when he did so in West Ham’s last game, a 3-1 defeat at Leicester. This result doesn’t tell the whole story – the Hammers were very good for long stretches – but ultimately they weren’t determined enough. West Ham have other creators in Kudus, Bowen and Summerville, but Paqueta’s omission is once again glaring. It’s also interesting that Füllkrug still doesn’t get a starting place despite Antonio’s accident this evening.

Wolves make three changes from the eleven that lost badly at Everton, which is no surprise. Johnstone, Semedo and Toti all come into the lineup. Where is Jose Sa? In last season’s Premier League, the Portuguese had the most goals prevented of any goalkeeper, based on Opta’s expected goals against target rate. He has had an inconsistent season this season, clashing with Wolves fans following the 4-2 home defeat to Bournemouth earlier this month. Hwang is a good option on the bench, although he hasn’t been able to shoot properly this season due to his form and fitness.

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The teams!

West Ham: Fabianski, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson Palmieri, Alvarez, Soucek, Kudus, Soler, Summerville, Bowen.
Subs: Areola, Cresswell, Coufal, Lucas Paqueta, Fullkrug, Luis Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez, Todibo.

Wolves: Johnstone, Lemina, Bueno, Toti Gomes, Nelson Semedo, Andre Trindade, Joao Gomes, Doherty, Cunha, Ait Nouri, Larsen.
Subs: Bentley, Hwang, Dawson, Rodrigo Gomes, Doyle, Forbs, Bellegarde, Goncalo Guedes, Pedro Lima.

Referee: John Brooks (Leicestershire)

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preamble

Last week, a struggling team at the bottom of the table met Wolves at home… and won 4-0. How Everton needed this win, especially considering the Toffees’ next three games are against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, and the rearranged Merseyside derby is certainly set to take place in the not too distant future.

A good win for Everton but a terrible defeat for Wolves, who remain in 19th place. Their festive run is nowhere near as difficult as Everton’s, although the upcoming games against West Ham, Leicester and Ipswich before Christmas are arguably more important in determining whether Wolves will avoid relegation at the end of the season.

West Ham are another club nervously looking over their shoulders despite signing Julen Lopetegui in the summer and spending well over £100m in the transfer market. Performances have fluctuated greatly of late and the job security of Lopetegui and Wolves’ Gary O’Neil remains in jeopardy. Some even went so far as to call today’s game “El Sackico.”

The focus ahead of this game has understandably been on Michail Antonio, the West Ham striker who was involved in a horrific car accident on Saturday. After initial concerns that things could have been much worse, it was a relief to hear that the 34-year-old was “conscious and communicative” when he was taken to hospital. Antonio underwent surgery for a broken leg on Sunday and is expected to be out for at least a year, although it remains unclear whether the Jamaica international will play again. It’s puzzling whether one should feel devastated or relieved for Antonio, but the accident will certainly have sent shockwaves through the West Ham team, of which the striker played such a big part.

Regardless of the Antonio news, this is a big game for West Ham and their manager. Oh, and a big one for Wolves and Gary O’Neil too.

Start: 20:00 GMT.

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