The Background
West Ham United return to Barclays Premier League action on Saturday looking to extend their winning run of games in the League to four matches.
The Hammers entertain newly promoted Norwich City, who have defied expectations so far. The Canaries are currently eleventh with eight points from their opening six games.
Alex Neil’s men recorded impressive wins over AFC Bournemouth and Sunderland, and go into Saturday’s game full of confidence following their 1-1 draw away at Liverpool.
They continued their run of form with a resounding 3-0 win over West Bromiwch Albion in midweek – West Ham loanee Matt Jarvis, scoring his second goal for the Norfolk side in just three appearances.
Meanwhile the Hammers maintained their 100% away record with a third historic win over table toppers Manchester City. If results go the Hammers’ way, they could go top of the league by Saturday afternoon.
The History
West Ham United have officially faced Norwich City just 50 times in the Football League, Premier League and domestic cup competitions. The Hammers have won 19, Norwich 16 and 15 matches have ended in draws.
The first-ever meeting between the two sides came on 6 October 1934, with John James Foreman and Hugh Mills scoring in a 2-1 West Ham win at The Nest in Division Two.
West Ham were the first club to visit Norwich’s present Carrow Road home, losing a Division Two fixture 4-3 on 31 August 1935. The Hammers visited again in pre-season to mark the 80th anniversary of the stadium, winning 1-0 through Harry Toffolo’s own-goal.
The last competitive game between the two sides, in February 2014, resulted in a 2-0 win for West Ham. James Collins and Mo Diame scored in the last six minutes to secure the Hammers three valuable points.
Match Info
Team News
West Ham United
Despite the Hammers’ busy schedule, Slaven Bilic has a relatively healthy squad to select from.
Diafra Sakho missed the trip to the King Power Stadium however he should be available. Andy Carroll made his first start in seven months against the Foxes while Mauro Zarate scored on his return, giving Bilic several different options up front.
Having missed the victory over Manchester City through injury, Cheikhou Kouyate is back in contention to play on Saturday.
Angelo Ogbonna (hamstring), Joey O’Brien (calf), Alex Song (foot) and Enner Valencia (knee) are all unavailable but are making good progress in their recoveries.
Norwich City
Canaries’ boss Alen Neil has a near full strength team to play with as the only absentees are Gary Hooper (ankle) and Youssef Mulumbu (metartarsal).
Matt Jarvis is ineligible to play against his parent club.
Match facts
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Saturday’s referee is Mike Dean. He will be assisted by Simon Long and Stuart Burt. The fourth official is Kevin Friend.
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West Ham have lost only one of their last nine league and cup matches against Norwich (W4, D4).
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The Canaries are without a win at West Ham in 26 years since a 2-0 win in March 1989.
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West Ham have scored eight goals from open play – the second highest in the league, behind Manchester City. Norwich City are in eighth place with six goals from open play.
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The Hammers have hit 79 long balls this season – joint top with Watford. Norwich are tenth having hit just 67.
Tickets, coverage, weather and other info
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Tickets have sold out for the game, but may become available online as Season Ticket Holders relist on Ticket Trader.
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You can follow the matchday live on our official Twitter and Facebook pages, as well as in our live match centre here on whufc.com. Get involved with the conversation on Twitter using #WHUNOR.
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Saturday is looking like a cloudy day, although there should be bursts on sunshine. Temperature is predicted to be 17C (63F) at kick-off.
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The District and Hammersmith & City lines serving Upton Park station are scheduled to run as normal on Saturday. Check tfl.gov.uk for up-to-the-minute reports.
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The latest news on National Rail services can be found here, while information on the roads is here.