Nuno Espirito Santo believes West Ham's "major fight starts on Friday" when they host Wolves in the Premier League.

The Hammers are currently 18th in the English top-flight, though a win against Wolves would see them go level on points with 16th-place Nottingham Forest and drop Tottenham, at least momentarily, into the bottom three. 

West Ham have lost only one of their last six home Premier League games (W1 D4), collecting more points over that period (seven) than in their first nine home matches of 2025-26 (six – W2 L7).

However, the Hammers were knocked out of the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday by Leeds United, losing 4-2 on penalties at London Stadium.

Nuno admitted it was a difficult defeat to digest, but he is confident that his West Ham side will respond in the right way.

"We had a difficult couple of days after Leeds, because we had a lot of hope and belief that we could reach Wembley," said the West Ham boss.

"It was disappointing, but at the same time, we showed a good reaction in the game, and that we can fight.

"We didn’t give up right until the end, and now we move forward, realising that our major fight starts on Friday. We are aware of the situation, but we are confident and we believe in each other.

"It’s going to be a tough game, because they’re [Wolves] a good team that is improving. You can see that, but we are ready to compete."

Prior to the international break, Wolves came back from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw against Brentford.

Wolves are 13 points off safety with just seven games to go, but midfielder Andre is not losing hope of Premier League survival.

"It's been a tough season. In this moment it's difficult to speak, now we have to keep believing and playing," Andre told the club website.

"We have good games left and in football everything is possible. Keep believing, keep fighting, keeping trying to win the last games.

"We won against Villa and Liverpool, so everything is possible. Against West Ham, we won the first game.

"We need to think game to game, and have confidence to play, confidence to defend – play together and fight."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

West Ham – Jarrod Bowen

Jarrod Bowen has more Premier League goals against Wolves than any other side (six), with five of his six goals coming in his last five home matches against them, netting in each of his previous three.

Wolves – Tolu Arokodare

Tolu Arokodare's equaliser last time out against Brentford was Wolves' fifth Premier League goal via a substitute under Rob Edwards, and eighth substitute goal involvement overall.

Only Arsenal (nine goals, 16 goal involvements) and Fulham (seven goals, 10 goal involvements) have more since he joined the club. 

MATCH PREDICTION – WEST HAM WIN

West Ham have won their last five Premier League home games against Wolves.

Only against Blackburn Rovers (nine from 1996 to 2008), Middlesbrough (seven from 2000 to 2009), and Sunderland (six from 2002 to 2010) have they won more consecutively in the competition.

However, Wolves are looking to complete the double over West Ham for the first time since 2019-20.

Since their return to the Premier League in 2018, Wolves have only beaten Southampton (nine) more often in the division than they have the Hammers (eight).

None of the last 16 Premier League meetings between West Ham and Wolves have been drawn, with both sides winning eight apiece. The Hammers have failed to score in all eight of those defeats.

Following a run of 11 successive defeats between October and December, Wolves have only lost four of their 13 matches in the league since MD19 (W3 D6), with only Arsenal (11), Manchester City (11), and Brighton and Hove Albion (12) conceding fewer goals in that time than their 15.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

West Ham – 50.1%

Draw – 25.2%

Wolves – 24.7%