Barclays Premier League
West Ham United v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Boleyn Ground
Sunday 10 January
1.30pm
Referee: Phil Dowd
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• West Ham United play host to Wolverhampton Wanderers looking to make it three games in a row unbeaten at home in the Barclays Premier League. More snow is expected in east London with the freezing conditions continuing. Fans are asked to keep an eye on whufc.com or media outlets for the latest news on Saturday.
• A Boleyn Ground draw with Chelsea on 20 December, coupled with three points in the Boxing Day game with Portsmouth, moved the Hammers out of the bottom three and another maximum on Sunday could move Gianfranco Zola's side up to 13th in the table.
• The Hammers will be looking to continue their encouraging home form in the league. In their last eight matches in east London, the Hammers have won three and drawn three with just the narrow defeat by Everton and the loss to Manchester United the only blotches on their Boleyn Ground copy book in that time.
• The hosts have enjoyed a good run of form against the Midlanders, with four wins and just one defeat in their last six meetings. They have not lost at home to Wolves since 1978.
• Their visitors, however, are in good form and have won three of their last six Barclays Premier League games.
• This will be the second league meeting between the two sides and West Ham United's second 'return' fixture of the season. The Hammers won 2-0 at Molineux on the opening day of the season on 15 August.
• This will be the sides' second encounter in the Premier League but they have met 56 times before. West Ham hold the upper hand with 26 wins. Wolves have emerged victorious on 17 occasions.
Last time out
Sunday 3 January 2009
FA Cup third round
West Ham United 1-2 Arsenal
West Ham United: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Daprela, Kovac, Behrami, Stanislas (Edgar 88), Diamanti, Jimenez, Nouble (Sears 79)
Subs not used: Stech, 'Gala, Da Costa, Payne, Lee
Goal: Diamanti 45
Sunday 3 January 2009
FA Cup third round
Tranmere Rovers 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Hennessey, Foley, Stearman, Craddock, Mancienne, Stephen Ward, Henry, Jarvis, Milijas (Halford 89), Ebanks-Blake (Elokobi 89), Iwelumo (Vokes 76)
Subs not used: Surman, David Jones, Zubar, Hahnemann
Goal: Jarvis 77
Last meeting
The teams last met at Molineux on 15 August 2009 when goals from Mark Noble and Matthew Upson ensured a 2-0 away win for the Hammers. The teams that day were -
West Ham United: Green, Faubert, Upson, Collins, Ilunga (Spector 65), Parker, Noble, Collison, Dyer (Stanislas 73), Jimenez, Cole (Nouble 90)
Subs not used: Kurucz, Gabbidon, Spector, Payne, Hines
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Hennessey, Foley (Vokes 75), Mancienne (Stearman 67), Craddock, Ward, Halford, Henry, Milijas (Edwards 80), Jarvis, Ebanks-Blake, Keogh
Subs not used: Hahnemann, Elokobi, Surman, Jones
Head to head
Last six meetings (league unless stated)
15 August 2009 - Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2 West Ham United
15 January 2005 - Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-2 West Ham United
2 October 2004 - West Ham United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
25 January 2004 - Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-3 West Ham United (FA Cup)
6 March 1993 - West Ham United 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
4 October 1992 - Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 West Ham United
Next up
West Ham United play Aston Villa at Villa Park a week on Sunday, while Wolves play host to Wigan Athletic next Saturday.
Referee
• Sunday's referee is Phil Dowd.
• Dowd began refereeing in 1984 before graduating to the Staffordshire Senior League and Midland Football Alliance.
• He joined the Football League list of assistant referees in 1992 before joining the list of referees in 1997.
• Dowd was promoted to the Barclays Premier League list of referees in 2001. This is his ninth season as a top-flight referee.
• He was the fourth official at the 2006 FA Cup final between West Ham United and Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
• Dowd took charge of five West Ham matches last season, most notably the 3-1 home victory over Newcastle United on 20 September, Gianfranco Zola's first match as Hammers manager. Dowd was also the man in the middle for West Ham's home matches against Arsenal, Fulham and Manchester United and the penultimate game of the season away at Everton.
• Sunday's game will be Dowd's third Hammers game of the season after refereeing the goalless draw with Blackburn Rovers on 29 August and the 2-2 draw with Fulham on 4 October.
West Ham United
• In their last Barclays Premier League home game at the Boleyn Ground - the 2-0 Premier League win against Portsmouth - West Ham United kept their first clean sheet since the 0-0 draw at Blackburn Rovers on 29 August.
• The Hammers have scored all seven of the penalties they have been awarded this season, a Barclays Premier League high.
• West Ham have scored 28 goals this season in the league with eleven different scorers registering. Carlton Cole leads the way (seven), with Alessandro Diamanti (five) and Guille Franco (three) next in line. Jack Collison (two), Matthew Upson (two), Junior Stanislas (two), Manuel da Costa, Mark Noble, Luis Jimenez, Zavon Hines and Radoslav Kovac have also registered.
• Cole is West Ham's top scorer this season with seven goals in 13 league games. The England striker has scored 14 goals in 25 Premier League games since Boxing Day 2008.
• Scott Parker has been booked seven times this season, Guille Franco five - leading to his suspension last weekend - while Julien Faubert, Cole and Mark Noble are each on four yellow cards.
• Only Robert Green has played in every league game for the club this season. He is on a run of 108 successive league starts.
• Diamanti has had 47 shots on goal this season, with 27 of them hitting the target, both higher than anyone else at the club.
• Jack Collison has more assists (four) than anyone else, while Mark Noble has put in the highest number of crosses (19) at the club.
• Matthew Upson has the highest number of defensive clearances (21), while his central defensive partner James Tomkins has made 17 defensive blocks.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
• While they may have three wins in six, Mick McCarthy's side will be looking to avoid their third consecutive defeat.
• Kevin Doyle is the club's top scorer with five goals from 32 shots.
Team news
• Gianfranco Zola could recall key first-team players for Sunday's match. Guille Franco returns from his one-match suspension, while the likes of Scott Parker, Mark Noble, Jack Collison and Herita Ilunga could be involved after missing last weekend's FA Cup defeat by Arsenal.
• Fabio Daprela, who impressed greatly on his first-team debut at left-back against Arsenal last weekend, will be eager to be involved again.
• Danny Gabbidon and Kieron Dyer are both likely to miss out as they are still recovering from their hamstring injuries.
• Frank Nouble has been struggling with a calf injury since making his debut last weekend, but will be hoping to keep his place in attack if fit. Freddie Sears could make his first Barclays Premier League appearance of the season after his return from a loan spell at Crystal Palace.
• Long-term absentees Luis Boa Morte (knee) and Calum Davenport (leg) are also definitely unavailable.
• Carlton Cole is making good progress from his knee injury and is aiming for a late January return.
• Wolves are set to welcome back leading goalscorer Doyle, who missed last weekend's FA Cup win at Tranmere through illness.
• Defender Christophe Berra could also be in contention after recovering from concussion.
Old boys
• Carlton Cole spent two months on loan at Wolves at the end of 2003, where he made seven appearances, scoring one goal.
• First-team coach Kevin Keen played 42 times for Wolves after leaving West Ham in 1993.
• Nigel Quashie spent the tail end of the 2008/09 season on loan at Molineux, playing three games.
Others who have played for both clubs include Jeremie Aliadiere, Edward Anderson, Frank Burrill, Henri Camara, Robert 'Dickie' Deacon, Tommy Dunn, Noel Dwyer, Joe Gallagher, Bobby Gould, Harry Hooper, Tudor Martin, Shaun Newton and Dick Richards.
General information
Tickets for the match are now on general sale. For ticket information, click here. For details on getting to the Boleyn Ground, click here
Weather: Sunday's forecast is for cold day with some possible snow showers. Temperatures are not expected to get above freezing.