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2025-26 Premier League

Manager: Graham Potter

Note:

Players in BOLD made their debuts for West Ham United

SUNDERLAND
Stadium of Light
0 - 3
16 August 2015
Ref: Rob Jones
Att: 46,233

Kick-off: 3:00pm
Premier League Head to Head: Played: 31
West Ham United won: 13, Drawn: 10, Lost: 8
Goals: 34, Against: 29​

MADS HERMASEN

Wan-Bissaka

Todibo (Irving)

Kilman

Aguerd

EL HADJI MALICK DIOUF

Rodriguez (CALLUM WILSON)

Ward-Prowse (Soucek)

Paqueta

Bowen

Fullkrug

West Ham United began the 2025/26 Premier League season with a 3-0 defeat by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Roared on by a deafening home crowd, high on belief after winning promotion via the Championship Play-Offs in May and bolstered by a host of new signings, the Black Cats made the perfect return to the Premier League after an eight-year absence.

For West Ham, what looked a difficult-looking opening-day fixture on paper proved to be too difficult in practice as second-half goals from Play-Off winners Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidor sent the Londoners back down south with nothing.

The Irons had lost just one of their previous 17 Premier League games against promoted teams and none of their eight most-recent top-flight matches against the Wearsiders. Sunderland, meanwhile, had not won any of their seven most-recent Premier League opening-day fixtures, and tasted victory in just one of their final 14 top-flight matches of the 2016/17 season – their last at this level.

But all those favourable statistics and positive history counted for absolutely nothing, of course, once referee Robert Jones blew for kick-off and, roared on by a near-capacity 46,233-strong crowd, Sunderland deservedly won the game.

​

Sunderland:

Roefs, Hume, Ballard, Seelt (Alderete), Reinildo, Xhaka, Sadiki, Diarra, Talbi (Rigg), Adingra (Le Fée), Mayenda (Isidor)

CHELSEA
London Stadium
1 - 5 (Paqueta 6')
22 August 2025
Ref: Michael Oliver
Att: 62,462

Hermansen

Wan-Bissaka

Todibo (Potts)

Kilman

Aguerd

Diouf

Ward-Prowse

Soucek (KYLE WALKER-PETERS)

Paqueta

Bowen

Fullkrug (Wilson)

Kick-off: 8:00pm
Premier League Head to Head: Played: 59
West Ham United won: 16, Drawn: 10, Lost: 33
Goals: 57, Against: 109​

League position: 20th

​

West Ham has now created a new Premier League record of conceding eight or more goals in their first two games in a season.

West Ham United’s difficult start to the 2025/26 Premier League season continued with a 5-1 home defeat by Chelsea. After a bright start from the team in Claret and Blue the game turned in the Blues’ favour on the length of Jean-Clair Todibo’s boot.

West Ham had taken the lead through Lucas Paquetá’s 25-yard thunderbolt inside six minutes, raising hopes of a welcome home victory. The goal, created by a Nayef Aguerd challenge and an El Hadji Malick Diouf pass, was celebrated by the Brazilian’s trademark dance. Those hopes were reduced when João Pedro headed in Marc Cucurella’s flick-on from a Pedro Neto corner on the quarter-hour mark.

Moments later, though, Todibo latched onto Paquetá’s pass and cut the ball back. Maximilian Kilman’s initial shot hit Jarrod Bowen and the ball span into the path of Füllkrug, who drove into the Chelsea net. London Stadium erupted. Füllkrug grinned. Paquetá danced again. However, the cheers dissipated, the German’s smile disappeared and Paquetá stopped dancing when VAR Jarred Gillett confirmed the French defender was offside, only marginally, but offside nonetheless.

By half-time, Chelsea had built a 3-1 lead with two goals that left Head Coach Graham Potter shaking his head, converted from a combined total of about eight yards by Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernández. First, on 23 minutes, Paquetá was robbed by Moisés Caicedo, perhaps illegally, on the edge of his own penalty area. Malo Gusto collected the loose ball, crossed and Neto nipped in front of Aaron Wan-Bissaka to half-volley past Mads Hermansen. Then, on 34, Dane had no chance again as Estêvão latched into Liam Delap’s lay-off, sped towards the byline and centred for Fernández to score. West Ham’s response before half-time was restricted to two overheads from Paquetá and Bowen, both easily saved by Sánchez, and a Bowen shot blocked by Cucurella.

Potter replaced Füllkrug and Jean-Clair Todibo with Callum Wilson and Freddie Potts at the break – the former for his home debut and the latter for his first Premier League appearance. Fernández could have made it 4-1 on 50 minutes, but skied Neto’s cross from the penalty spot. Caicedo then did make it 4-1 on 54, poking in after Hermansen failed to catch Fernández’s inswinging corner. And it was 5-1 on 58 from another corner as João Pedro headed down and Trevoh Chalobah fired in. With a four-goal lead, Chelsea relented and West Ham created chances for a consolation, but Wilson nodded wide, Sánchez acrobatically tipped Potts’ shot over the crossbar and both Kilman and Aguerd headed over.


Chelsea:

Sánchez, Gusto (James), Tosin, Chalobah (Fofana), Cucurella (Hato), Caicedo, Fernández, Neto, Estêvão (Gittens), Pedro, Delap (Santos)

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS : FL Cup (Second Round)
Molineux
2 - 3 (Soucek 50', Paqueta 63')
26 August 2025
Ref: Darren England
Att: 19,561

Areola

Walker-Peters

Todibo (Fullkrug)

Mavropanos

Aguerd (Kilman)

Diouf

Rodriguez (Wilson)

Ward-Prowse

Soucek

Paqueta

Bowen

Kick-off: 7:30pm

Football League Cup Head to Head: Played: 1

West Ham United won: 0, Drawn: 0, Lost: 1

Goals: 3, Against 3

West Ham United’s quest to win the Carabao Cup for the first time is over following a 3-2 second-round defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Hammers came from behind to lead at Molinuex, only for two late goals from Norway striker Jørgen Strand Larsen to send the Londoners crashing out.

Head Coach Graham Potter would have hoped his side were on their way to the third round when headers from Tomáš Souček and Lucas Paquetá put the Irons in front with less than half-an-hour to play. But substitute Strand Larsen had other ideas, thumping Wolves through with a rising drive and a powerful near-post header in the last ten minutes. It all means West Ham remain without a win in 2025/26, and our hopes of winning this trophy for the first time in its 66-year history have ended.

The first half was a slow burner, with the first chance not arriving until the 25th minute. Paquetá and Jarrod Bowen combined to set up Souček, who forced Sam Johnstone to save well low to his left. Moments later, Paquetá dragged wide, then the Brazilian played in Bowen, who beat the offside trap but could not beat Johnstone. It was then Wolves’ turn as Jhon Arias tested Alphonse Areola and Nayef Aguerd blocked Rodrigo Gomes’s shot, before Guido Rodríguez’s trip on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde saw referee Darren England award the hosts a penalty four minutes before the break.

Wolves captain Hee-chan Hwang thumped the left-hand post with his spot-kick, but wing-back Gomes reacted quicker than anyone else to beat Areola at the base of his near post and put the home side in front. The first half ended with Paquetá heading James Ward-Prowse’s cross powerfully past the far post, but the second began with Souček levelling within five minutes. The Czech buried a trademark far-post header from Kyle Walker-Peters’ superb in-swinging left-foot cross from the right.

Thirteen minutes later, the Londoners took the lead in similar style. This time, Walker-Peters fed Bowen, who curled in a cross from the right and Paquetá flew into the box to bury his header past Johnstone. After seeing Hwang drive a free-kick wide, Wolves manager Vítor Pereira made a quadruple change, including the introduction of Strand Larsen, whose goal had won Wolves the Premier League fixture at Molineux in April. And history repeated itself as the No9 scored two goals in under two minutes to win the tie for his side.

With eight minutes to play, André’s deflected shot was kicked out by Areola as far as Strand Larsen, who fired into the roof of the West Ham net. Within two minutes, the substitute had scored again as Arias’s shot was blocked by Areola’s legs as far as Jackson Tchatchoua, whose cross was powered in at the near post by Wolves’ big No9. Paquetá volleyed over late on, but West Ham could not fashion a second comeback, and our Carabao Cup challenge fell at the first hurdle.

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers:

Johnstone, R.Gomes (Tchatchoua), Mosquera (Doherty), Agbadou, S.Bueno, H.Bueno, André, Bellegarde (J.Gomes), López (Strand Larsen), Arias, Hwang (Kalajdžić)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST
City Ground
3 - 0 (Bowen 84', Paqueta [pen 88'], Wilson (90'+1')
31 August 2025
Ref: Craig Pawson
Att: 30,215

Kick-off: 2:00pm

Premier League Head to Head: Played: 15
West Ham United won: 7, Drawn: 3, Lost: 5
Goals: 21, Against: 15​

League position: 16th

Hermansen

Walker-Peters

Mavropanos

Kilman

Diouf

MATEUS FERNANDES (Summerville)

Ward-Prowse (Irving)

Soucek

Paqueta

Bowen

Fullkrug (Wilson)

West Ham United recorded their first Premier League victory at the City Ground since 1996 with a stunning 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Captain Jarrod Bowen did the damage again, turning in a Crysencio Summerville delivery with six minutes remaining, and then on 88 minutes, his fellow attacker Lucas Paquetá showed his cool, calm composure by drilling a spot-kick past Matz Sels. Callum Wilson stepped off the bench to put the seal on proceedings in stoppage time and register his first goal for the Club in what were late, late heroics in the East Midlands.

More importantly, the result saw us earn our first points of the 2025/26 campaign, and saw new Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes impress on debut. 

The Hammers started positively, and that led to the visitors having great early sights of goal - Dinos Mavropanos headed over a James Ward-Prowse corner from just a couple of yards out, and Füllkrug did likewise ten minutes later as Forest struggled to handle our set-piece threat. Twenty minutes had passed when Nuno Espírito Santo’s side threatened for the first time. 

They won a series of corners with Morgan Gibbs-White off-target with a flicked header, and when Callum Hudson-Odoi was felled in the box on 22 minutes, the City Ground screamed for a penalty, but referee Craig Pawson waved appeals away, a decision backed up by VAR James Bell. 

With the game crying out for a spark of inspiration, if anyone was going to create something, it was Fernandes, who ran the channels, held the ball up and picked out pockets of space in front of the Forest back-line. From one such passage of play arrived West Ham’s best moment in the opening period, when our Portuguese No18 charged down the left flank, as he skipped beyond Ola Aina and pulled the ball back for Paquetá on the edge of the box, and his wonderful curling effort needed to be tipped over at full stretch by Sels. And that was about it for the first half. Chances were few and far between at either end, despite our dominance, but the Hammers looked much more potent in what was a solid performance in the opening 45.

The second half, however, was the polar opposite and began at a swift pace with both sides working opportunities during the opening minutes. Chris Wood first saw a header from close range easily saved by Mads Hermansen, while at the other end, in response, the visitors fashioned the best chance of the initial exchanges.

Bowen drove forward and delivered a low cross into the area, where Paquetá burst onto the ball and fired millimetres wide of Sels’ near post with his right foot, before Füllkrug forced Sels into a plunging one-handed save with a powerful angled drive. At the other end, the home side were now full of confidence, though, with Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi firing straight at Hermansen between the sticks.

Potter looked to shuffle his pack as the hour mark passed, bringing on the experienced Wilson in place of Füllkrug with the game crying out for a goal. Wilson almost provided it, surging onto the loose ball, and then firing the ball towards the top corner that forced a remarkable reaction save from Sels. As the clock ticked towards 90, it looked like it was going to be a case of one point instead of three for the visitors.

But as is so often the case, Bowen was in the right position inside the area to nudge home a Summerville - who had been introduced from the substitutes’ bench two minutes prior - cut-back to send the away end wild, and just as you wondered if the decisive second would come, it was Paquetá who produced with a well-taken penalty that left Sels with no chance on 88 minutes, after Summerville was felled by Ibrahim Sangaré.

And it got better for Potter’s men as Wilson - a constant threat since his introduction - sealed the three points by adding the finishing touch to a counter after latching onto a cross from El Hadji Malick Diouf. That was game, set and match, and Bowen almost added a fourth deep into second-half stoppage time, but Sels got down well to parry wide. 

​

Nottingham Forest:

Sels, Aina, Murillo, Milenković, Williams, Sangaré (Kalimuendo), Anderson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi (Hutchinson), Ndoye (McAtee), Wood (Jesus)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
London Stadium
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13 September 2025
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Kick-off: ?:00pm

Premier League Head to Head: Played: 
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Goals: ?, Against: ?​

League position: ?

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