- West Ham are 3rd, on 16 points from 9 games.
- Swansea City are top, also on 20 points, but they made a much quicker start to the season.
Hammers’ style to get the better of the Swans
This should be a fascinating clash of two very different styles on Saturday when Swansea City host West Ham in Wales.
Vítor Matos has the Swans playing a 4-3-3 system that plays the ball with patience and keeps it well, while putting their midfielders under pressure by pressing high and moving the ball quickly vertically.
Nuno Espírito Santo's Hammers, on the other hand, are set up in a flexible 4-2-3-1 system that allows them to be compact and control games when they need to but can also switch into a deadly transition mode when in possession. There is the potential for these two teams to cancel each other out but we think West Ham can nick it.
West Ham can edge it
The oddsmakers don't seem to have much faith in either team, making the Hammers marginal 24/25 favourites, Swansea at 49/20 and the draw at 53/20.
West Ham are in mixed form, however, with 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat from their last 5 games, while Swansea come into this game on the back of a three-game winning streak after beating Burnley 3-1, Lincoln City 2-1 away and Norwich City 2-1.
Backing West Ham to avoid defeat makes sense at the price as they have already shown they can get the job done on the road, but the both teams to score option also makes the grade as the visitors have shown enough of a bite to land a few blows on the break against the Welsh side.
Swansea.com Stadium a fortress for the hosts
Swansea City's home form has been key to their rapid start to the Championship campaign and the Liberty has been a tough place to crack for their visitors, with the hosts conceding just twice in five home games.
The Hammers have scored eight goals in their four Championship 2026/2027 away games and should have enough to at least leave with something from Saturday's trip.
Adam Idah leads the way in the Championship 2026/2027 goalscoring charts for Swansea with three goals in eight appearances, but with Zan Vipotnik chipping in with two of the six Swans goals in their last five games, we're going with the visitors to edge a one-goal game.
