Barclays Premier League
West Ham United v Bolton Wanderers
Boleyn Ground
Saturday 21 August 2010
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Andre Marriner
COMMENTARY, HIGHLIGHTS AND REACTION TO COME ON WHUTV
LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY ON WHUFC.COM
Introduction
• West Ham United kick off the 2010/11 home campaign with the visit of Bolton Wanderers, with neither team yet to score this season. The game will be Avram Grant's first competitive fixture in charge of the club at the stadium after he became the club's 13th manager on 3 June 2010. It is also a Kids for a Quid fixture, meaning children can get in for just £1.
• West Ham will be glad to return home after making it more than a year without an away win with last weekend's 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa. Bolton began with a goalless draw at home to Fulham, their first clean sheet in nine top-flight matches.
• The Hammers have not won in the last six matches against Bolton Wanderers.
• The Hammers played seven matches during the summer, winning the first five and drawing the last two - the last of those fixtures against RC Deportivo La Coruna in the SBOBET Cup actually culminating with a 5-3 shoot-out win for the Hammers.
• In pre-season, Avram Grant's men secured victories over League One outfit Peterborough United (2-1), German side VfL Borussia Monchengladbach (2-0), Greek champions Panathinaikos (1-0), League One outfit MK Dons (2-0), Championship club Ipswich Town (1-0) before a draw at Southend United (1-1). The final summer contest was that Deportivo date when Pablo Barrera struck the winning penalty after Rob Green had made a save.
• Saturday's fixture could see Hammers home league debuts for Pablo Barrera, Frederic Piquionne, Tal Ben Haim and Winston Reid. Barrera and Piquionne both featured off the bench at the Boleyn in the Deportivo game but Ben Haim, who had a 60-minute run-out for the reserves on Tuesday, and Reid, who started at Villa, have not played at the stadium for the Hammers.
• West Ham finished 17th last season with just 35 points, while Bolton fared little better - just four points and three places better off in 14th position.
• West Ham are seeking to end a run of six consecutive defeats at the hands of the Trotters. In all, the Hammers have failed to beat Bolton in seven matches - a run stretching back to the 3-1 home league win at the Boleyn Ground on 5 May 2007, when Carlos Tevez netted twice and Mark Noble once. New Sheffield United manager Gary Speed scored Bolton's goal.
• Bolton beat West Ham three times last season, winning 3-1 on the first two occasions. The first came in the Carling Cup third round on 22 September, followed by a Premier League success on 15 December. The most recent loss was the 2-1 home defeat on 6 March.
• Carlton Cole was West Ham's leading scorer last season with ten top-flight goals. Kevin Davies has scored on four of his last five starts against West Ham.
• Robert Green topped the appearance charts for the last campaign, playing every minute of every Premier League game. He has now played 127 consecutive top-flight matches. He started the last 12 games of the 2006/07 campaign and every one of the 38 games in each of the last three campaigns.
• West Ham's biggest home win over Bolton Wanderers occurred in the shape of a 6-0 victory on 13 February 1926.
• Avram Grant took charge of Portsmouth in a 2-2 away league draw at Bolton on 24 April 2010.
• West Ham United will once again be giving their support to the England 2018 campaign by endorsing 'Back the Bid' week ahead of the FIFA Inspection Team's arrival in England next week. The club will help raise the Bid profile before Saturday's match against Bolton Wanderers as the England 2018 team step up their campaign with a series of events and campaigns.
Last meeting
• The last meeting between the two sides was that 6 March 2010 fixture at the Boleyn Ground.
The lineups were:
West Ham United: Green, Upson, Spector, Tomkins, Parker, Kovac (Stanislas 76) , Behrami, Faubert (Dyer 47), Cole, Franco (Mido 67), Diamanti
Subs not used: Stech, Daprela, Da Costa, Ilan
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Knight, Robinson, Steinsson, Ricketts, Cohen (sent off 71), Muamba, Wilshere (Taylor 78), Chung-Yong Lee, Kevin Davies, Elmander (Gardner 75)
Subs not used: Al Habsi, A O'Brien, Riga, Weiss, Klasnic
• This is the 55th league meeting between the two sides. Bolton have won 28, West Ham have won 18 and there have been eight draws.
Head to head
Last six meetings: (Premier League unless stated)
6 March 2010 - West Ham United 1-2 Bolton Wanderers
15 December 2009 - Bolton Wanderers 3-1 West Ham United
22 September 2009 - Bolton Wanderers 3-1 West Ham United (League Cup third round)
21 February 2009 - Bolton Wanderers 2-1 West Ham United
5 October 2008 - West Ham United 1-3 Bolton Wanderers
12 April 2008 - Bolton Wanderers 1-0 West Ham United
Overall record v Bolton Wanderers (all competitions) W 22 D 10 L 33
Last time out
14 August 2010
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa 3-0 West Ham United
West Ham: Green, Upson, Ilunga, Faubert, Reid, Tomkins (Diamanti 73), Parker, Kovac (Piquionne 45), Noble, Boa Morte (Barrera 45), Cole
Subs not used: Stech, Gabbidon, Spector, Sears
14 August 2010
Barclays Premier League
Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Fulham
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Knight, Cahill, Robinson, Steinsson, Petrov (M Davies 86), Holden, Muamba (Taylor 86), Chung-Yong Lee, Kevin Davies, Elmander (Klasnic 89)
Subs not used: Bogdan, Blake, A O'Brien, Bogdan, Ricketts,
West Ham United
• Avram Grant's West Ham United will be aiming to continue the form shown in pre-sason, which has seen them defeat League One new boys Peterborough United (2-1) at London Road, German Bundesliga challengers VfL Borussia Monchengladbach (2-0) in Ruhpolding, Greek double winners Panathinaikos (1-0) in the Austrian town of Kitzbuhel, MK Dons (2-0) at stadium:mk and Ipswich Town (1-0) at Portman Road. The away schedule was completed by the 1-1 draw at Southend before the goalless draw against RC Deportivo La Coruna and subsequent 5-3 penalty shoot-out win.
Bolton
• Bolton manager Owen Coyle took a side to the Boleyn Ground twice last season, having been in charge of Burnley when the Clarets were beaten 5-3 on 28 November before the Bolton win in March 2010.
• The Trotters acquired Manchester City winger Martin Petrov, Burnley midfielder Robbie Blake and Real Madrid left-back Marcos Alonso in the summer.
• Bolton also signed striker Tom Eaves from Oldham earlier this month but the crucial business has been to re-sign striker Ivan Klasnic permanently from FC Nantes Atlantique after his successful loan summer and secure England Under-21 midfielder Fabrice Muamba on a long-term contract.
Team news
• West Ham United manager Avram Grant will again be without Thomas Hitzlsperger after he picked up a thigh injury on Germany duty just before the club season started.
• Peter Kurucz has joined Jack Collison and Zavon Hines on the long-term injured list after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament on 14 August.
• Kieron Dyer, Tal Ben Haim, Junior Stanislas, Freddie Sears and Frank Nouble all featured in a 2-1 win for the reserves against Crystal Palace on Tuesday. Benni McCarthy has also trained all week as has Manuel da Costa, who missed out at Villa with a slight ankle knock.
• For Bolton, only Joey O'Brien's knee problem and Gavin McCann's foot are causing injury headaches.
Old boys
• Tal Ben Haim joined Bolton in summer 2004 from Maccabi Tel-Aviv and spent three seasons at the Reebok Stadium playing 88 league games and scoring his only goal in English football. He moved to Chelsea in July 2007.
• Among those players who have represented both clubs are Frank Costello, George Eccles, Thomas Kinsell and William Yenson. Anthony Barness was loaned to West Ham in January 2004 but returned without playing a game inside 24 hours.
Referee
• Saturday's referee will be Andre Marriner.
• He was the man in the middle for the Barclays Asia Trophy defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in Beijing on 29 July 2009.
• In seven Marriner-officiated matches last season, including that summer date with Spurs, the Hammers failed to win a single game.
• Marriner refereed the 3-1 away defeat by Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday 15 December last season.
• He began refereeing in 1992. The official joined the Select Group of officials in 2005 and is now on the list of FIFA international referees.
• This season he took charge of the FA Community Shield that saw Manchester United beat Chelsea 3-1 at Wembley before last weekend's goalless draw between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.
General information
• The weather forecast on Saturday afternoon is for an overcast day with temperatures set to peak at around 24C.
• Tickets are still available, with the club running a 'Kids for a Quid' offer. Click here for more information.
Next up
• West Ham welcome Oxford United in the Carling Cup second round on Tuesday night and then travel to Manchester United for a top-flight fixture on Saturday evening. For details of how to purchase tickets for the Oxford match - priced at £5 for kids and £10 for adults, click here.
• Bolton will go to Southampton in Tuesday cup action before welcoming Birmingham City in the league next Sunday.