Bournemouth-West Ham United Preview

Gary O'Neil is excited for his "special" return to former club West Ham as Bournemouth look to put further distance between themselves and the Premier League relegation zone.

O'Neil succeeded Scott Parker on an interim basis at the end of August and more than steadied the ship by guiding his side to a six-game unbeaten run.

That streak, consisting of four draws and two wins, came to an end against Southampton last Wednesday, but Bournemouth are now four points clear of the bottom three.

The Cherries have a chance to respond on Monday away at West Ham, a club in which O'Neill made 56 appearances for during his playing career.

"I'm looking forward to Monday. Going back to an old club was always a bit special when I was playing and I'm sure that will feel the same again now I'm managing," he said.

Asked what sort of reception can be expected, O'Neill said: "I'm not sure. I'm not really expecting a reception, just to do business really.

"I won't have any expectations or even an awareness, I'll just be fully focused on the lads and making sure we get out of there with something."

West Ham enter the game just one place and two points above the relegation zone, though a victory against Bournemouth will see them make a huge leap into the top half.

That is because just three points separate West Ham in 17th and Brentford in 10th place in what is an incredibly congested table.

"I think there is very little between the teams in the Premier League," said West Ham boss David Moyes.

"With the teams at the bottom, there are some very good sides down there and that could change very quickly. I think the tightness in the league is not a surprise.

"There are three or four very good, exceptional teams, but there is not much between the rest of the sides."

West Ham - Gianluca Scamacca

Scamacca has gone three matches without finding the net, but the Italy international still leads the scoring charts for West Ham this season with six goals in all competitions.

He has scored in his first two home Premier League starts for United and is looking to become the first player to do so in three in a row for the club since Diafra Sakho in October 2014.

Bournemouth - Dominic Solanke

Solanke has been directly involved in five goals in nine Premier League games this season (two goals of his own and a further three assists).

That is already one more goal involvement than the one-cap England international registered in 32 games in his previous campaign at this level in 2019-20.

- West Ham won 4-0 in their last Premier League meeting with Bournemouth on New Year's Day in 2020, in what was Moyes' first game of his second spell. The Hammers have never lost against the Cherries under Moyes (W1 D2).

- During their first spell in the Premier League from 2015-16 to 2019-20, Bournemouth won more points against West Ham (15) than against any other side in that time (W4 D3 L3).

- West Ham have won their past five Premier League games on a Monday - they have never won six in a row on a specific day of the week in the competition. Bournemouth have won just one of their six Premier League games played on a Monday (D1 L4).

- Bournemouth are unbeaten in their past three Premier League away games (W1 D2), earning just one point fewer (five) in these games than they did in their previous 16 on the road in the top-flight (six - W2 D0 L14).

- West Ham have scored fewer first-half goals than any other side in the Premier League this season (two). Indeed, in a league-table based on first-half results, the Hammers would be bottom - they have only led at the interval once so far this term (against Wolves earlier this month).

Updated October 23, 2022