West Ham United Women are currently sitting in fifth spot in the Women's Super League, after picking up seven points from their first four games, and they are looking to extend their unbeaten run to four matches when they welcome Birmingham City Women to the Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Birmingham are yet to get a point on the board having lost all four games so far, also claiming the joint-worst defensive stats in the top flight after conceding 11 goals.
Match preview
The Hammers have won back-to-back WSL games for the first time since 2018 thanks to a well-earned victory last time out against a struggling Manchester City side.
Despite Gareth Taylor's side's underwhelming start to their season, a trip to the Academy Stadium always poses a big challenge, but a resolute performance from Olli Harder's team earned them a 2-0 win last Sunday.
Dagny Brynjarsdottir scored her first goal for the club after arriving last December and Yui Hasegawa sealed the three points deep into stoppage time at the end of the second half.
West Ham had to withstand large periods of pressure which came from their hosts, but this encounter against Birmingham could encourage the Hammers to see more of the ball, with the Blues averaging just 32% possession in their opening four games.
Birmingham's last outing was a game of few chances against Manchester United, with just three shots being recorded on target between the two teams, but the visitors were efficient with their attacks and Scott Booth's side fell to a 2-0 defeat.
Booth may begin to show concern about Birmingham's attacking threat, having only scored one goal so far this season, and with West Ham keeping two clean sheets in their last two games, the visitors may be on for another blank in their attacking third this weekend.
The Blues only needed three wins with six draws last season to avoid the drop, suggesting that they should not worry about their league position at this early stage of the campaign - however, two of those victories came in gameweek four and five, meaning that the side have started this season worse than the beginning of last year.
Three teams remain pointless after the first four games, as Reading and Leicester are also without a point on the board, and Birmingham will be looking to record at least a draw or, even better, a win before those two teams, just to secure an early advantage over their relegation rivals.
West Ham are favourites for this meeting on Sunday, but Booth will be rallying his side to try and get the ball rolling in terms of putting points onto the table, saying this week that he is confident they know how to improve, suggesting that a win may be coming for Birmingham.
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Team News
After a very good result and performance against Man City, Harder is unlikely to change the starting 11 with the Hammers aiming to continue their momentum which has been building.
Kate Longhurst, Gilly Flaherty and Hawa Cissoko are expected to remain as the defensive trio for the home side, and at the other end of the pitch, Claudia Walker will lead the line for West Ham.
Birmingham striker Sarah Ewens picked up a knock on her ankle and missed the last game against Manchester United, and Booth has confirmed that she will need more time to recover and will not be available for selection this weekend.
Midfielder Christie Murray has not featured for the Blues this season as she continues her recovery from injury - the Scottish international is back in training, but Sunday's game comes too soon for her return to action.
Lucy Quinn pushed further forward last weekend in Ewens's absence, and she will lead the line again for Birmingham with Veatriki Sarri and Jade Pennock making up the front three.
West Ham United Women possible starting lineup:
Arnold; Longhurst, Flaherty, Cissoko; Wyne, Brynjarsdottir, Stringer, Svitkova; Hasegawa, Walker, Yallop
Birmingham City Women possible starting lineup:
Ramsey; Holloway, Lawley, Louise Quinn, Finn; Whipp, Robertson, Scott; Sarri, Lucy Quinn, Pennock
We say: West Ham United Women 2-0 Birmingham City Women
West Ham are going to be a difficult side to score against considering Birmingham have struggled in front of goal anyway this season, and the home side will be confident of keeping a third clean sheet in a row.
The confidence Harder's team would have gained from last weekend's victory should be enough to help earn themselves another three points this Sunday, in what on paper is a more straightforward encounter.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a West Ham United Women win with a probability of 68.86%. A draw had a probability of 19.7% and a win for Birmingham City Women had a probability of 11.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United Women win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.85%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (13.8%) and 2-1 (9.28%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.25%), while for a Birmingham City Women win it was 0-1 (4.61%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 9.2% likelihood.
