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GOAL! West Ham 2-0 Sunderland (Bowen, 28)
Bowen steps up from the spot. Can he make it 103 Premier League goal involvements for West Ham?
Yes he can! Slotted into the bottom right corner, no problem.
PENALTY TO WEST HAM! Hume fouls Scarles and there’s almost no argument from the Sunderland man, and barely any hesitation from Thomas Bramall.
Yep, he definitely caught him, knee to knee. Clear penalty.
26 mins: A big issue for West Ham so far is how many fouls they are committing. It’s playing straight into Sunderland’s hands, allowing them to pile crosses into the box to test Alphonse Areola.
Jarrod Bowen moved onto 102 goal involvements in the Premier League with that assist for Summerville, by the way, the most for a West Ham player.
24 mins: Summerville races down the hosts’ left and there’s a big test of Ballard’s hamstring as he’s forced to sprint across and cover, getting enough of the ball to stop the flying West Ham winger.
Dan Ballard might have done himself a mischief during that challenge – he’s holding his hamstring. Let’s keep an eye on him.
22 mins: West Ham have no desire to press high, on the other hand, instead sitting in a mid-block waiting to pounce when the ball is played into midfield.
Another long Sunderland cross finds Ballard’s head and the defender manages to hold off a grappling Soucek and head goalwards. Just wide.
19 mins: Sunderland have shown great intent since going 1-0 down… they’ve shown it from the first whistle, in fairness. They pose a major threat down the flanks and via crosses, long throws etc. Can West Ham hold firm?
And now Pablo misses a big chance for West Ham! The angle was tightening and he had Robin Roefs closing in on him, and eventually skied it.
It’s all suddenly become very open after a cagey first 10 minutes.
16 mins: Goodness me, there was almost an immediate chance to equalise for Sunderland’s Trai Hume, after a long throw was flicked in his direction, but he couldn’t keep his looping header under the crossbar.
Bowen eventually got it on the right and jinked his way to the byline, digging out a delicious cross that was ideal for Summerville to rise highest and nod home. Almost too easy. That’s the moment West Ham were craving!
ShareGOAL! West Ham 1-0 Sunderland (Summerville, 14)
In fact, Wan-Bissaka is seeing plenty of the ball now and dovetailing quite nicely with Jarrod Bowen on the Hammers’ right flank. A switch of play finds Summerville in space and suddenly the hosts have a bit more pep in their step.
And just like that, they’ve scored! Summerville’s header!
A thumping header from Crysencio Summerville gives the home side the lead. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/ReutersSummerville celebrates. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/ReutersShare
Updated at 07.52 EST
11 mins: Romaine Mundle v Aaron Wan-Bisska is shaping up to be a fascinating one-versus-one tussle this afternoon, down the Sunderland left/West Ham right.
10 mins: Most of the early noise inside the London Stadium is being made by those of a Sunderland persuasion.
These early kick-offs can feel quite low-key sometimes, and West Ham are going to need more energy from their fans. They’ve pressed a little more in the past few minutes without creating a chance of note.
7 mins: Now the home fans want a free-kick as Summerville runs into trouble but the ref is seemingly keen to keep the play moving… although West Ham do eventually get a free-kick as Castellanos is impeded.
5 mins: Referee Thomas Bramall blows up for a slight foul by Castellanos in the centre-circle just as West Ham were looking to break.
It prompts the first London Stadium groan of the afternoon. I’d suggest it might not be the last.
3 mins: West Ham are under the cosh already, with Sunderland willing to press high and send crosses into the area without delay.
2 mins: No Granit Xhaka in Sunderland’s midfield could make this interesting. It does look like a straight 4-4-2, with Sadiki testing Areola early on with a sweet left-footed volley after a long throw was headed into no man’s land.
ShareKICK OFF
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppp!!
Broadcasters TNT Sports have Sunderland’s formation down as a 4-2-3-1 with Hume in midfield and Mayenda out wide on the right. Guess we’ll find out soon …
There’s a lot of West Ham fans still queuing outside the stadium, and will seemingly be late for kick-off. Traffic in the area, or just a disconnect between Hammers supporters and their team?
Anyway, the players are coming out of the tunnel, bubbles aplenty, and we’re almost ready to go.
Also kicking off at 12.30pm this Saturday lunchtime is a crunch clash in the WSL. Here’s your minute-by-minute coverage of that one with Emillia Hawkins.
Sunderland duo Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco) and Habib Diarra (Senegal) competed in the helter-skelter Afcon final so return to the bench today. Noah Sadiki of DR Congo keeps his spot in the midfield, with it looking like a 4-4-2 from Régis Le Bris with Brian Bobbey and Eliezer Mayenda playing as a strike partnership.
Outside a chilly London Stadium on a Saturday lunchtime. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/ReutersShare
So Callum Wilson is on the West Ham bench after it was revealed he was likely to stay at the club this month, amid rumours of an exit.
There is no Lucas Paquetá, who looks bound for Brazilian club Flamengo.
It was reported earlier today that the Hammers have reached verbal agreement to sign Adama Traoré from Fulham, so there is a boost to their squad on the way.
Given this weekend’s fixtures are a mirror image of the opening day of the season, there is plenty of harking back to be done – and Sunderland’s 3-0 destruction of Graham Potter’s West Ham in August has proven fairly instructive of the campaign to come. The Hammers have remained just as listless despite a change of manager while Régis Le Bris’s team, incredibly, can go fifth by doing the double over West Ham today. That position may be only temporary given the number of European contenders playing later today and tomorrow, but the fact Sunderland are still flying high after 22 games shows they have been far from a flash in the pan.
Updated at 06.59 EST
Team news
West Ham (4-2-3-1): Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Todibo, Scarles; Soucek, Fernandes; Bowen, Pablo Felipe, Summerville; Castellanos.
Substitutes: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Ward-Prowse, Wilson, Diouf, Magassa, Potts, Kante.
Sunderland (4-4-2): Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Reinildo; Hume, Sadiki, Le Fée, Mundle; Mayenda, Brobbey.
Substitutes: Patterson, Cirkin, Geertruida, Talbi, Rigg, O’Nien, Isidor, Diarra, Adingra.
Referee: Thomas Bramall (Sheffield)
Updated at 07.07 EST
Preamble
West Ham are sitting in a spot in the table where everyone expected Sunderland to be, and Sunderland are where West Ham – in Deloitte Football Money League terms – ought to be. But this is football, and one of the great fascinations of this season has been to see the Black Cats confound opponents after their promotion while watching the Hammers’ expensively-assembled squad struggle.
There is a glimmer of hope for Nuno Espírito Santo and his troops. Last week it came in the form of Dr Tottenham, as a 2-1 away win at Spurs gave West Ham their first victory in more than two months. The back-to-back wins in early November both came at the London Stadium so Nuno must generate some momentum with a victory today. The gap to 18th-placed Nottingham Forest would close to just two points if so, with Sean Dyche’s side not playing until tomorrow.
Sunderland will have their full complement of Africa Cup of Nations players back – they were affected by the tournament more than any Premier League team – but they managed fairly well without them, losing just once since 6 December.
The action gets under way in east London at 12.30pm (GMT) so stick with us for team news and match updates.