West Ham will look to continue their excellent start to the season when they travel to a struggling Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.

Hammers' excellent start

It has been a fantastic start to Slaven Bilic’s reign at Boleyn Ground as they currently sit in third in the Premier League table after picking up 13 points from a possible 21 after the departure of former boss Sam Allardyce.

Canary disappointment

The Hammer’s away performances so far this season have been the particular highlight for fans with famous victories away to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City however they were brought back down to earth last weekend.

Robbie Brady gave Norwich an early lead before Diafra Sakho equalised, Nathan Redmond looked to have won the game before Cheikhou Kouyate’s late equaliser saved a point but the 2-2 draw ended a streak of three victories.

Dismal Black Cats

After saving the club from yet another relegation at the end of last season, the permanent arrival of Dick Advocaat and frequent arrival of new faces gave fans optimism ahead of the new campaign.

However it couldn’t be any further from the opposite as they have failed to win so far this campaign and are currently anchored to the bottom of the table and shipping sixteen goals.

Things looked to be heading the right direction before the international break with their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa however it has been downhill again from there with defeats to Tottenham, Bournemouth and Manchester City in the Capital One Cup.

Manchester misery

Many didn’t give Advocaat’s side much hope last week ahead of their trip to Old Trafford to take Manchester United looking for their first three points.

They looked a lot more solid defensive wise in the first period, however, the game was over within 40 seconds with goals from Memphis Depay and Wayne Rooney either side of the half-time break with the game rounded off by Juan Mata to put Louis Van Gaal’s side on top of the pile with the 3-0 victory.

Team news

Andy Carroll makes a return to the North East but is expected to be handed a place on the bench as he continues his return to full fitness while last week’s goal scorer Kouyate is expected to keep his place in the midfield.

Bilic confirmed that striker Enner Valencia was back in training but isn’t expected to be ready for at least another two or three weeks while defender Winston Reid remains a concern with a back problem.

Jack Rodwell is the only injury concern for Advocaat with an ankle niggle with Lee Cattermole and Yann M’Vila expected to keep their places, Jermain Defoe could be given the nod ahead of Fabio Borini as he has failed to impress since his return to Wearside on a permanent basis.

Sunderland will host West Ham United at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, October 3 with kick-off at 3PM.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.