Perth Glory vs West Ham United

Optus Stadium is the venue as West Ham United and Perth Glory face each other in an exciting summer friendly.

West Ham may have had to settle for a disheartening bottom-half finish in the 2022/23 Premier League season. However, they achieved historic success in Europe by defeating Fiorentina 2-1 in the Europa Conference League final in June to bring home continental silverware for the first time in the new millennium. Inspired by their eye-catching European tour, David Moyes’ side launched their pre-season with an emphatic 4-1 triumph over lower-league outfit Boreham Wood earlier this week. That result marked West Ham’s fourth win in their last five matches (L1), extending their exciting run without a draw to 13 (W8, L5). A high-scoring affair could be in store at the Optus Stadium, as six of West Ham’s nine games since the start of May have featured over 2.5 goals, including the last four in a row.

In the meantime, Perth Glory may want to forget the 2022/23 A-League season in a hurry as an underwhelming 9th-place finish left them out of the playoffs. Caretaker boss Kenny Lowe must steady his sinking ship after taking over from underperforming manager Ruben Zadkovich at the end of last season. Perth Glory’s final four league matches in April had fluctuated between draws (2) and defeats (2), two of which saw them concede precisely four goals. But entertainment has been Glory’s ‘middle name’ of late, with five of their last six matches seeing over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet, highlighting the potential for an action-packed contest.