After a slow start to their Championship season, West Ham United have won three straight games to occupy the first place on the table. They will look to maintain their unbeaten run against Wrexham at the London Stadium on Friday.
West Ham will come into the fixture after their latest win 3-2 over Bolton Wanderers. Jarred Bowen scored the brace, including the winner in the 77th minute after Bolton took a 2-1 lead.
Meanwhile, it has been a tough start to Wrexham's season as they have won only once in six games. In their previous game against Burnley, which ended 1-1, Wrexham conceded in the first half but came back to level the score in the second half thanks to Jacques Ekomié.
Here's everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch:
The match will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football in the U.K., Paramount+ in the U.S., FanCode in India, and BeIN Sports in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates here.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
UK BST: Friday, September 11, 8 p.m
U.S. ET: Friday, September 11, 3 p.m.
India IST: Saturday, September 12, 12:30 a.m.
Australia AEST: Saturday, September 12, 5 a.m.
Venue: London Stadium
Referee: Matt Donohue
Predicted XIs:
West Ham United
Mads Hermansen
Kyle Walker-Peters | Konstantinos Mavropanos | Max Kilman | Oliver Scarles
Jarrod Bowen | Divine Mukasa | Arne Engels | Manor Solomon
Mohamadou Kante | Pablo
Wrexham
Anthony Patterson
Max Cleworth | Dominic Hyam | Callum Doyle
Issa Kaboré | Ben Whiteman | Matty James | Jacques Ekomie
Josh Windass | Lewis O'Brien
Kieffer Moore
Talking Points:
Bowen the main man for West Ham
Once Jarrod Bowen made it clear that he would stay at West Ham and play in the Championship, it was expected he would be the main man to spearhead West Ham's challenge to regain their place in the Premier League. He has three goals and two assists and is leading the charts in Championship for big chances created. In fact, he has scored five goals in all competitions already in this season.
His manager Nuno Espirito Santo had only praise for him after their win over Bolton. "Yeah, he's a skipper. He leads by example. So as long as the boys look around and see him, we're on a good path," he said.
It bodes well for the team that their best player has started the campaign so well. Still a long way to go but if he maintains his form, West Ham have a great chance to be back in the Premier League next season.
Wrexham need to turn one point into three
Currently ranked 13th, it's clear that Wrexham need improvements in both attack and defence. So far, they have played out four draws in the league -- three at 1-1, and one goalless.
Last season, one of the main reasons Wrexham missed out on the playoff spot was the number of draws. They drew 14 games in the whole season, ending up in seventh spot in their first ever season in Championship after regaining promotion.
It was an impressive campaign for Phil Parkinson's team last time, but he knows his side needs to show little bit more to clinch three points in crucial matches. It has been a tough start to this season, but a win against West Ham will indicate that they will make a serious push for that promotion.
Stats
Jarred Bowen ranks first in the Championship for big chances created this season -- five, along with Portsmouth's Adrian Segecic and Birmingham's Alexander Cochrane.
West Ham are on top in the expected goals table with 13.1 total xG, ahead of Cardiff's 10.9 and Southampton's 10.8.
Despite topping the table, West Ham have conceded 14 goals in six matches so far. The most along with Southampton who also conceded 14 goals.
This is their first meeting between these two clubs after a span of 45 years. Their last competitive meeting took place back in 1981.
