Wolves face West Ham with a relegation six-pointer on the cards
The Hammers are loitering in the bottom three
Wolves are winless in this campaign but will take confidence after their 1-1 draw at Old Trafford
Jarrod Bowen believes that his West Ham team-mates need to be "nasty" in order to retain their Premier League status ahead of a huge game against Wolves this weekend.
Bowen scored the first goal of West Ham's 2-2 draw with Brighton last time out, a game that saw three first-half penalties awarded during a crazy encounter at London Stadium.
However, it was a result that ensured Nuno Espirito Santo's team would enter 2026 in the relegation zone and four points adrift of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest.
Their clash with the Seagulls saw eight yellow cards brandished between the two teams, a trait Bowen believes could help the Hammers get their season back on track.
"The handbags and stuff, that fighting spirit is what you need, that fight, that desire to win will get you points in this league," Bowen said.
"And I think we need to show more of that week in, week out, to be a properly horrible team to play against.
"When teams come here, we need to make it horrible to come here, be a nasty team to play against, be a real streetwise side.
"We go to Wolves, who haven't won this season, so people expect us to win. So, that's the pressure that we have to take, and we have to deal with that.
"We know it's not going to be as easy as going there and winning the game. We're going to have to earn the right to play to earn the right to get three points."
Wolves, meanwhile, ended a run of 11 consecutive Premier League defeats by drawing 1-1 with Manchester United, with Ladislav Krejci netting a 45th-minute leveller.
But despite the point, that has not taken away from their poor season thus far. Wolves became the first Premier League side to go 23 matches without a victory since Derby County in the 2007-08 campaign (32).
They are also only the second side in top-flight history to go 19 matches from the start of a season without winning, along with Bolton Wanderers in 1902-03.
And with 19 games of their league campaign remaining, the Opta supercomputer has assigned Wolves a 99.8% chance of being relegated to the Championship.
Krejci, however, believes their draw with United can be used as a foundation to mount an unlikely survival attempt, saying: "We're happy with it, it's something that we can build on when we go into the second half of the season, and also for the next year.
"Of course, we want more, and we could have got more, but we also could have lost the points in the end.
"But also, in the end, we were close to conceding, so we were a bit lucky, but this is how it is, and we have to take it and go. It's a good point and a base that we can build on."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Wolves – Tolu Arokodare
After scoring his first Premier League goal against Arsenal recently, Tolu Arokodare has put in some promising displays for Wolves, most notably at Old Trafford last time out.
Indeed, Arokodare finished their 1-1 draw with the Red Devils with team-high totals for touches in the opposition box (seven), chances created (two) and aerial duels won (three).
West Ham – Jarrod Bowen
With his goal against Brighton, Bowen equalled Michail Antonio for the most combined goals and assists recorded for West Ham in the Premier League (101 each).
And he will be confident of adding to that tally here. Bowen has scored more Premier League goals against Wolves than he has against any other opponent (six).
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
The Opta supercomputer predicts a nervy encounter between two teams at the wrong end of the table, with both sides out of form at this stage of the campaign.
Wolves remain winless in their 19 Premier League games this season (D3 L16). In English top-flight history, only Bolton have had a longer run without a win from the start of a campaign (22 in 1902-03).
And following back-to-back victories at the start of November, West Ham are winless in their last eight Premier League games (D4 L4). They last had a longer run between March and May 2011 (nine).
But with 2026 upon us, the Hammers will be looking to start in style. They have only lost their opening league game in just one of the last eight calendar years (W4 D3), though it was a 4-1 loss at Man City in 2025. They last lost their first league game in consecutive calendar years between 2006 and 2008 (a run of three).
And Nuno will be hoping to pile more misery on his former side. He is unbeaten in all four of his Premier League games against Wolves (W2 D2), winning both of his visits to Molineux with Spurs (August 2021) and Nottingham Forest (January 2025).
West Ham have, however, lost five of their last seven Premier League away games against Wolves, with the exceptions being victories in April 2021 (3-2) and April 2024 (2-1).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Wolves – 35.9%
Draw – 26.1%
West Ham – 38%
