There are potentially high stakes involved in managers Julen Lopetegui and Gary O’Neil’s team selections when West Ham host Wolves in the Premier League on Monday.
O’Neil was the bookmakers’ favorite to become the next top departure from the managers ahead of kick-off, having overseen back-to-back defeats for the second-placed side.
Lopetegui is widely said to have been given a one-game pass by the 14th-placed Hammers after heavy defeats to Arsenal and Leicester City.
Here are the confirmed lineups, starting squads and team news for the final match of Matchday 15 of the 2024/25 Premier League.
The West Ham line-up against Wolves
West Ham announced on Sunday that Michail Antonio has undergone surgery for a broken lower limb following his car crash on Saturday. The players will show their support for the striker before the match.
Defender Jean-Clair Todibo picked up an adductor injury in the 3-1 defeat at Leicester. Full-back Emerson started in place of Vladimir Coufal in one of two changes for the home side, with Crysencio Summerville replacing Danny Ings in attack.
West Ham’s starting line-up: Fabianski, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson, Soucek, Alvarez, Bowen, Soler, Kudus, Summerville
Subs: Areola, Cresswell, Coufal, Paqueta, Fullkrug, Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez, Todibo
Wolves line-up against West Ham
Wolves defender Nelson Semedo returns from a one-match ban and Pablo Sarabia is out with a calf problem.
Sam Johnston replaces Jose Sa in goal, while Totti also comes on, with Craig Dawson and Goncalo Guedes dropping to the bench.
Long-term absentees are defender Yerson Mosquera, midfielder Boubacar Traore and striker Sasa Kalajdzic.
The Wolves line-up: Johnstone, Doherty, Bueno, Semedo, Ait Nouri, Andre, Lemina, J Gomes, Cunha, Larsen, Goncalo Guedes
Subs: Bentley, Hwang, Dawson, R Gomes, Doyle, Forbes, Bellegarde, Guedes, Lima
The latest West Ham vs Wolves
Only the teams in the relegation places – Ipswich Town, Wolves and last-place Southampton – have worse home records than West Ham’s seven points from a possible 21 this season.
West Ham are six points clear of the relegation zone and seven behind 10th-placed Fulham, but their performances under Lopetegui, who replaced David Moyes in May on a two-year deal with the option of an extra year, have put pressure on the Spaniard. .
Wolves are four points adrift of fourth-placed Crystal Palace, with one of their two league wins coming away from Molineux.
Those wins preceded a 4-2 home defeat by Bournemouth on November 30 and a 4-0 win at Everton on Wednesday, when Dawson scored two second-half own goals.
