For the first time following the international break, City will return home to the ProAmpac Stadium as they are set to host West Ham United on Wednesday 14 October (8pm KO).
Read all the key stats and information as well as the pre-match thoughts of both Tom Shaw and Tendayi Darikwa ahead of the clash with the Hammers.
Opposition Information
Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have made a positive start to the season following their first relegation from the topflight since the 2011/12 season, amassing 16 points in their opening nine games, suffering defeat just once and finding themselves in third, chasing the automatic promotion places. They also offer the most potent attacking threat in the division with 23 goals so far this campaign, a stat which is largely aided by their dominant display when welcoming Wrexham to the London Stadium and dispatching six goals past them. The aforementioned defeat came in their second league game of the campaign when hosting Charlton Athletic and despite Joël Piroe pulling a goal back late on, the visitor's goals from Lloyd Jones and Tyreece Campbell were enough to hand the Hammers their only defeat of the season.
Just three seasons on from their historic night in Prague when lifting the Europa Conference League title by defeating Fiorentina, West Ham found themselves relegated to the second tier meaning changes were plentiful over the summer. Two new additions included Joël Piroe and Manor Solomon, the former on loan and the latter on a permanent deal from Tottenham Hotspur. Both players have recent experience of being champions at this level as they were teammates at Leeds United two seasons ago when they earned themselves 100 points and promotion to the Premier League. The Surinamese striker, Piroe, featured in all 46 of Leeds United’s games that season, netting 19 goals and turning provider for a further seven while Solomon was a loanee who managed to play 39 games over the duration of the season scoring 10 goals and assisting 12, making it 48 goal contributions between the pair.
Amongst all the change, one man who has stayed loyal is Jarrod Bowen who is heading into his eighth season as a Hammer, a stint which has seen him score over 50 Premier League goals. He also has international experience with England, making 22 caps and scoring one goal which came in the Three Lions’ 5-0 win over the Republic of Ireland, he also made two appearances during the 2024 Euros. He’s kicked off the current campaign in great form scoring five league goals, including a brace when facing Bolton Wanderers at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, a game in which his side emerged as 3-2 victors.
Tom Shaw said: “We need everyone at the top of their game on and off the pitch tomorrow to get a result against a West Ham team that pose a big threat in front of goal but as always, we’re going in to play our game and if we do that, we’ve got a great chance.”
The Journey
Three years ago, these sides met in round three of the Carabao Cup when West Ham were fresh off the back of European success and City put up a monumental effort as underdogs, now both sides meet in a league fixture and with Tom Shaw part of the coaching staff that night, he spoke about the amazing journey the club has been on and how much the fans have influenced that and will be needed under the lights at the ProAmpac Stadium.
He said: “Everybody’s differing journeys to get to this point is amazing, it’s taken a lot of dedication by the staff and the players to get to this point, the football club has had an ambitious strategy over the last few years has managed to execute and get us to this point.
“The supporters have played a huge part in this journey, and they will be needed again against West Ham, but our fans have energized the players, we went on an incredible journey last year together and we made this a very difficult place to come and try and get a result so that’s the feel we want to try and create.”
Tendayi Darikwa’s Thoughts
City skipper, Tendayi Darikwa, has put pen-to-paper on a new contract until June 2028 following a successful surgery on the ruptured anterior cruciate ligament which he sustained in the Imps’ opening home game of the season when welcoming Portsmouth to the ProAmpac Stadium. Tendayi will still fulfil his role as club captain from off the field and he spoke following his new contract and how he is still helping his teammates despite the injury.
Tendayi said: “It's huge. I think it speaks volumes about my football club because there are a lot of clubs up and down the country who wouldn’t do that for their players.”
He added: “I’d much rather be out there trying to affect results on the pitch, but it’s not meant to be. As a senior player in the team and one of the leaders, I’ll do my best to help and support them wherever I can.”
H2H
These two sides have met as recently as September 2023 in the Carabao Cup round three where it was the Hammers who advanced at the ProAmpac Stadium but in tightly contested games where City heavily tested the opposition goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski, forcing him to make five saves throughout the duration of the match before Czech Republic-international, Tomas Soucek sealed West Ham’s advance in the 70th minute scoring from a corner.
That was the first time since 1982 the two sides have met but in the 1948/49 season, these two teams played out a seven-goal thriller with City getting the best of it and coming out on top by a scoreline of 4-3. The opening goal for the Imps was scored by Billy Bean and was then followed by a hattrick from Jock Dodds, who played 60 times in red and white stripes, netting 39 goals during that period. This game also holds significance as Doug Wright’s debut for City, a defender who went on to make 233 appearances for the Imps over the span over 6 years.
Match information
City will wear their home threads for the return to the ProAmpac Stadium - you can get yours HERE.
Andrew Kitchen will be the referee for the evening with help from his assistants Andrew Dallison and Alistair Nelson and the fourth official will be Adam Herczeg.
Legendary broadcaster, John Helm, will be joined by Chris Laming to provide the commentary for Imps+ - check out your streaming options HERE.
