West Ham team news
Tomáš Souček is suspended for the Hammers after being dismissed against Tottenham Hotspur, with French midfielder Soungoutou Magassa likely to make his full debut in midfield as his replacement.
Palace Academy graduate Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be sidelined and miss Saturday's match against his former club.
“I think Aaron Wan-Bissaka will still be unavailable, it’s just a problem with his stomach,” Potter said. “Hopefully he’ll be in light training tomorrow or the weekend, but he won’t be available for the game.
“Apart from that, Callum [Wilson] had a full week’s training, so it’s good for him, and so has Nicolas [Füllkrug], so we’re pretty much as we were.”
Potter on home form
West Ham enter the fixture still searching for a first home win of the 2025/26 campaign, following defeats to Chelsea and Tottenham.
Reflecting on that record, Potter pointed to the level of opposition and the broader context.
“We’ve played two matches at home. We’ve played against Chelsea, who are the Club World Champions, and we’ve played against Tottenham, who are also competing in the Champions League,” he said.
“So, we’ve played two teams that have invested and have got good teams, good squads. The sample isn’t big this season, but of course last season as well, the home record for a period of time hasn’t been what we want in terms of points and maybe even performances, probably even before my time.”
Potter added that turning things around at home is a process that takes time.
“So, to be able to change that around, you need a bit of time to do that. You need a bit of time to change the dynamic. But I don’t think it’s about that. I think it’s more that you have to analyse things game by game.
“Chelsea was a slightly different story, but for us we have to focus on the next match and perform well and bring that first half that we felt was positive to the game and take up the challenge.
“In the Premier League, it’s difficult to control the whole thing for 90 minutes, so when you have to suffer, you have to suffer, and you need a bit of luck sometimes, like every team.
“But our challenge at home is to play well, to play better than we have.”
