WEST HAM UNITED v WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 29th November 2015, 2:05pm
Upton Park

MATCH NOTES

The game will be the 100th competitive meeting of the two clubs. The Baggies currently have a slender advantage in terms of victories with 39 compared to the Hammers' 38.

There have been 14 previous Premier League meetings with Albion winning three and West Ham five.

Sunday will see Albion's last ever league visit to Upton Park with the Hammers due to move to the Olympic Stadium next season.

Albion's last game on this date came as recently as last year when the Baggies slipped to a single goal defeat at home to Arsenal, Danny Welbeck the Gunners' goalscorer. The club's last win on November 29 came in 2003 when a Jason Koumas masterclass guided Albion to a 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest in a League Division One clash at the City Ground.

West Ham's last game on this date came in 2010 when the Hammers recorded a 3-1 Premier League over Wigan Athletic at Upton Park.

Six of the last nine league meetings between the two sides have ended in draws.

The Hammers have won just five of their last 16 home Premier League games (W5, D5, L6).

If they play a part in the game, Gareth McAuley will make his 150th appearance for the Baggies and Claudio Yacob will make his 100th.

Albion's last six games: Arsenal (H) 2-1; Manchester United (A) 0-2;  Leicester City (H) 2-3; Norwich City (A) 1-0; Sunderland (H) 1-0; Crystal Palace (A) 0-2.

West Ham's last six games: Tottenham Hotspur (A) 1-4; Everton (H) 1-1; Watford (A) 0-2; Chelsea (H) 2-1; Crystal Palace (A) 3-1; Sunderland (A) 2-2.

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Chris Brunt will miss the trip to Upton Park due to suspension but Baggies' boss Tony Pulis will welcome back Gareth McAuley after the Irishman served his own ban.

West Ham United

Pedro Obiang and Alex Song are both fit again with Hammers' boss Slaven Bilic having to choose between the pair to whom will start in place of the suspended Mark Noble.

Dimitri Payet (ankle), Enner Valencia (ankle/ foot) and Darren Randolph (knee) all remain missing for the hosts.

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 3/1, West Ham United Win: 21/20, Draw: 21/10.

First Goalscorer

Albion: Rondon 13/2, Lambert 15/2, Berahino 9/1, Sessegnon 9/1, Anichebe 9/1, McClean 10/1, Morrison 11/1, McManaman 12/1, Gardner 12/1, Dawson 16/1, Fletcher 25/1, McAuley 25/1, Yacob 33/1, Chester 33/1, Evans 33/1.

West Ham United: Carroll 5/1, Sakho 6/1, Zarate 6/1, Jelavic 6/1, Lanzini 7/1, Moses 15/2, Antonio 8/1, Kouyate 12/1, Cullen 12/1, Song 20/1, Cresswell 25/1, Jenkinson 25/1, Obiang 25/1, Reid 25/1, Tomkins 33/1, Oxford 33/1.

No Goalscorer: 15/2

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REFEREE

Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire)

Atkinson will be taking charge of his third Albion game this season after officiating the Baggies 1-0 win over Aston Villa in September and the 1-0 win over Sunderland last month.

He took charge of two Albion games last season - the 3-2 defeat at home to Leicester City in April and the 4-0 FA Cup win over West Ham in February.

The West Yorkshire official has taken charge of one West Ham game so far during 2015/16 - the Hammers 2-0 win at Arsenal on the opening day of the season.

Atkinson has handed out 80 yellow cards and no red in the 17 games he has refereed so far this season.

A full run-down of Atkinson's history refereeing the Baggies can be found here

TICKET INFORMATION

Albion will be backed by a sell-out following of 1,100 supporters.

WEATHER FORECAST

Light rain, 12°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

LAST MEETING AT UPTON PARK

West Ham United 1-1 Albion
Barclays Premier League
Thursday 1st January 2015, 3:00pm

West Ham United: Adrian, Jenkinson Collins, Reid, Cresswell, Song, Amalfitano (Jarvis 55), Kouyate, Downing, Sakho (Valencia 72), Carroll (Cole 84). Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Nolan, Noble, O'Brien.

Goalscorer: Sakho 10

Booked: Kouyate 4 (foul)

Albion: Foster, Wisdom, Lescott, McAuley, Baird, Morrison, Mulumbu (Yacob 66), Brunt, Dorrans (Varela 79), Sessegnon, Berahino (Ideye 73).  Subs not used: Myhill, Gamboa, Dawson, A Nabi.

Goalscorer: Berahino 42

Referee: Jonathan Moss (West Yorkshire)

Attendance: 34,914

New West Brom manager Tony Pulis watched from the stands as his side battled to a 1-1 draw at West Ham. The former Crystal Palace and Stoke boss has signed a two-and-a-half year contract at The Hawthorns to replace Alan Irvine, who was sacked on Monday. The Baggies, who had started the day in 16th place and just a point off the dropzone, had to recover after falling behind to an early goal from Diafra Sakho, but went into half-time level after Saido Berahino equalised on the break. West Ham, who had lost both their Christmas fixtures so far against Chelsea and then Arsenal, were unable to up the tempo in the second half, as the Baggies showed Pulis should have a solid base on which to plot their safe passage up the Barclays Premier League table.

It was a positive start by West Brom, as midfielder Stephane Sessegnon caused some problems with his driving runs. On eight minutes, West Ham left-back Aaron Cresswell weaved his way into the penalty area, but could only shoot straight at Ben Foster, claiming afterwards he was tugged back by Gareth McAuley. Referee Jon Moss, though, thought otherwise. The defender then had a hand in West Ham's goal on 10 minutes after being released down the left by Stewart Downing. Cresswell got to the by-line before he clipped over a first-time cross, which Sakho headed into the far corner for a ninth goal of the season. Foster then made a smart save to deny Downing after he cut in from the left and drilled an angled shot goalwards. On 23 minutes, West Ham were indebted to goalkeeper Adrian, who pulled off a string of fine saves against Arsenal, after the Spaniard turned away a fierce volley from Chris Baird following a cross by Youssouf Mulumbu. Sessegnon then fired wide when well placed 10 yards out, which just about summed up the Baggies fortunes this season. The Baggies - who had assistants Rob Kelly and Keith Downing manning the dugout - continued to look dangerous on the break, and were level on 42 minutes.

Berahino pushed the ball out to Sessegnon on the left, and he carried it forwards to the edge of the West Ham penalty area, before squaring back to his team-mate, who dispatched a low shot into the bottom right corner for a first goal since October 25. West Ham looked lacklustre again at the start of the second half, when a deflected shot from Berahino had Adrian scrambling across his six-yard box to palm the ball away. Mulumbu cut in from the right and smashed his shot into the side-netting as the Baggies pressed again. West Ham made a change on 55 minutes when Matt Jarvis replaced Morgan Amalfitano and the home side opted for two wingers. Cresswell was inches away from making it 2-0 when his curling 25-yard free-kick hit the base of the far post. Enner Valencia came on for Sakho, who is set to head off to the African Nations Cup, in the 72nd minute, after the forward looked to have injured his back in a goalmouth scramble. West Brom also used the break in play to make a change as Berahino was replaced by Brown Ideye. West Ham sent on Carlton Cole, replacing Andy Carroll, for the closing stages, but the home side could not make any pressure count, with the Baggies finishing strongly as substitute Silvestre Varela saw a curling effort deflected wide in stoppage time.

Sporting Life

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

None

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Morgan Amalfitano, Jeroen Boere, David Burrows, Peter Butler, Franz Carr, David Cross, Alan Dickens, Fred Fenton, Danny Gabbidon, Bobby Gould, Tommy Green, John Hartson, Sir Geoff Hurst, Harry Kinsell, Ted Martin, Peter McManus, Frank Nouble, Nigel Quashie, George Reid, Liam Ridgewell, Charles 'Chippy' Simmons, David Speedie, Gary Strodder, Steve Walford and Chris Whyte.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS WEST HAM UNITED