Lopetegui: The most important thing is that Antonio is alive

West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui has said that forward Michail Antonio will return to the pitch in future, following a serious car accident last Saturday.

The 34-year-old sustained a lower-limb fracture after the incident, but Lopetegui was positive about his condition.

“The most important thing is that he’s alive, he’s good,” Lopetegui said. “He broke his femur, but he’s going to recover for sure.

“He’s going to need time but the good news is that he has time. When you see the car was terrible, that’s why we are happy.

“In the end, despite the fact we are unhappy because we lost one very important player for us, we are happy because he’s going to be ready.

“Now he’s strong, he’ll recover himself for sure and he’s going to be ready to be a player.

“The first thing is to be a man and then to be a player.”

A trip to the south coast on Monday night pic.twitter.com/tiU0cI0OHc

— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 13, 2024

Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola, meanwhile, does not think the fact that the Cherries have started better than West Ham in the Premier League this season is relevant to Monday night’s clash between the sides.

“It’s very early in the season to establish these kinds of comparisons,” he said. “Now we are ahead of them, but in five days they can be level with us. If they win two, we lose two, they are with us.

“We are in a moment of the season where you win one game, you look like you go ahead three positions. You lose, you go [down positions].

“We have to keep going, keep adding points. It’s very early to start comparing.

“We are in a good spot points-wise, 24 points. They [West Ham] come also from the win the other day against Wolves. They won at Newcastle away. That is also a very difficult game to play.

“I know it’s going to be difficult. We have played against them two ties and one goal in the last minute. It’s going to be small details.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bournemouth – Justin Kluivert

Kluivert is Bournemouth’s top scorer this season with five Premier League goals, having scored a hat-trick of penalties away to Wolves last month.

The Dutch winger has also provided two assists in the league and averages 1.9 shots per game.

West Ham – Jarrod Bowen

Bowen is level with Tomas Soucek as West Ham’s top scorer this season with four league goals, but he is clear in all competitions with five in total.

The 27-year-old has both scored and assisted in nine different Premier League matches for West Ham, a record only Paolo Di Canio (10) can beat for the club.

MATCH PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH WIN

Bournemouth have won four of their last five home games in the Premier League (L1) this season, while they have also won their last three league games on the spin.

Should they take all three points on Monday, it will be the first time since December 2023 that they have managed four victories in a row.

The hosts have also scored 23 goals from an xG of 30.92 this season, an underperformance of -7.92 that is the biggest in the Premier League.

West Ham beat Wolves 2-1 at home last time out but had lost back-to-back matches prior to that.

Julen Lopetegui’s side have lost three of their last four on the road, winning just one of their last seven (D2 L4) in all competitions away from home.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Bournemouth – 53.6%

Draw – 22.4%

West Ham – 24%