Paul Merson and Chris Sutton have tipped West Ham United to turn their poor start to the season around, starting with a return to winning ways this weekend against Wolves.
The Hammers have started the 2022/23 campaign poorly, losing five of their seven games, and head into the fixture in the relegation zone. Saturday's tie against Wolves represents an opportunity to pick up points against a side sitting directly above them in 17th place.
David Moyes' side finished seventh last season and reached the UEFA Europa League semi-final and ex-Arsenal midfielder Merson says that despite fans worrying, the east London club will pick things up starting this weekend.
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Merson predicted a 2-0 win and told Sportskeeda: "West Ham fans are a bit worried about their team at the moment, but I think they'll be all right. For the unbelievable Premier League campaign they had last season, it'll be a complete reversal if they don't win this game. They set the bar so high last year that they've now put severe pressure on themselves.
"West Ham's big names haven't hit the levels they achieved last season. They aren't a free-scoring side, and they'll need to find a way to score the first goal. When they do, they're solid at the back and force the other team to chase the game. They've got [Michail] Antonio and [Jarrod] Bowen on the counter, and they'll need to go back to that blueprint.
"Wolves are a good team but they don't score enough goals for my liking. West Ham are not a million miles away at the moment, and I think they're going to get back on the horse this week."
Ex-England and Blackburn Rovers striker Sutton agrees with Merson, although his reasoning is rather different. The former Chelsea man believes Wolves' profligacy in front of goal will be their undoing, despite signing former Blues attacker Diego Costa.
He told BBC Sport while predicting a 1-0 win: "Diego Costa could make his Wolves debut here, but I think we have to be realistic about what to expect from him. This isn't the Costa we saw at Chelsea, at the peak of his powers. He is 33 now and has not played a competitive game this year.
"Wolves frustrate me because they are a really good team that just doesn't score enough goals. I could be wrong, but I don't see Costa changing that. West Ham are not exactly prolific either, but I think they deserve more points than they've picked up so far and this could be the day where their luck turns."
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