West Ham United’s new stadium, the 60,000-seat behemoth constructed ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, is set to officially welcome its new tenant for the next 99 years.
The Hammers will take on Bournemouth as the two sides christen the Premier League’s newest digs. The increased (nearly doubled) capacity will make Slaven Bilic’s side contenders on par with the rest of the London big boys — Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur — or, at least that’s the plan of chairman David Gold.
Both sides will be in search of their first point of the 2016-17 Premier League season, with West Ham losing away to Chelsea early this week, and the Cherries suffered a bit of a hammering at the hands of Manchester United a week ago today.
LINEUPS
West Ham United: Adrian, Byram, Collins, Reid, Masuaku, Nordtveit, Tore, Noble, Kouyate, Antonio, Valencia
Bournemouth: Boruc, Francis, Cook, A.Smith, Daniels, Surman, Arter, Fraser, Ibe, King, Wilson