West Ham United vs Burnley Predictions

• West Ham have won their last two Premier League games
• Burnley have lost four matches in a row, failing to score in the last three of those
• Tomas Soucek has scored in back-to-back games against Burnley

Fatigue could force Hammers to grind it out

West Ham were beaten 1-0 by Freiburg in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie on Thursday and, with the return match scheduled for next midweek, this clash with Burnley arguably comes at a bad time.

Hammers boss David Moyes fielded a strong team against Freiburg and he may rest some of his regulars this weekend as a result, but he will still expect his side to overcome the relegation-threatened Clarets.

Burnley head into the weekend sitting 19th in the standings, a full 11 points adrift of safety after picking up just two draws and no wins from their last nine league fixtures.

Vincent Kompany’s side are on a four-match losing streak, failing to score in the last three of those, and they may suffer a similar fate at the London Stadium, with West Ham eyeing a fifth home clean-sheet of the season in the league.

Professional performance expected from hosts

West Ham have ran in a combined seven goals on their way to beating Brentford and Everton in their last two league games, but with their ongoing European commitments and Moyes likely to rotate his starting XI, any victory over Burnley may be less eye-catching.

The Hammers had to come from behind and rely on a 91st-minute winner from Tomas Soucek to claim a 2-1 win when these two sides met at Turf Moor in November and it could be similarly tight this time around.

Four of the last six meetings between the pair have yielded fewer than three goals and that could prove to be the case again on Sunday.

West Ham were 2-0 winners when they hosted both Sheffield United and Manchester United earlier in the season and they could make it a hat-trick of successes by that scoreline against Burnley.

Soucek loves facing Burnley

Czech Republic international Soucek was the hero at Burnley in the autumn, as his late volley saw West Ham snatch all three points, while he was also on the scoresheet the last time the two teams met at the London Stadium – a 1-1 draw in April 2022.

A firm favourite with Moyes, Soucek has featured in 38 of West Ham’s 39 matches this season and he should retain his place even if the Scot opts to rotate his starting XI.

On the scoresheet against Everton last weekend, Soucek has nine goals for the season across all competitions; he could hit double figures come Sunday.