Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated fixture of the entire Championship season, Millwall vs West Ham takes place on Saturday lunchtime at the Den, renewing one of the fiercest rivalries in English football after almost 15 years without playing each other.

Millwall vs West Ham details overview

  • Date: Saturday 19th September 2026
  • Kick-off: 12:30pm
  • Venue: The Den, London, UK
  • How to watch: ITV1, STV, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Ultra HDR, ITVX, STV Player

Millwall vs West Ham quick tips

Millwall vs West Ham prediction

One of the fiercest rivalries in English football resurfaces on Saturday afternoon as Millwall and West Ham go to battle for the first time in almost 15 years.

As soon as West Ham’s relegation from the Premier League was confirmed last season, and as soon as the fixture list for the new campaign was revealed, eyes from all across the country went searching for the first match between the two sides.

Saturday is the day when one of English football’s oldest rivalries gets renewed, as the two teams go head to head for the first time since February 2012.

West Ham head into the match at the home of their rivals as odds on favourites for victory after having found their feat in the Championship following their relegation last season.

After a tough start to life in their first campaign in the second tier in 15 years, picking up just two points from their opening three league games, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team have picked up four league wins on the spin.

The current winning streak leaves the Hammers heading into the final weekend of football before the extended international break sat top of the second tier table, and know that barring a miracle a win will guarantee their place on top of the tree for the next three weeks.

The east London side have scored 16 goals across their last four league wins, including a hugely impressive 6-0 win over Wrexham in their last league outing, and are without doubt the form team in the second division heading into the weekend.

They did fall to a first defeat in seven matches in midweek with a 3-2 defeat at home against Premier League side Fulham in the third round of the Carabao Cup, but that will likely be brushed off quickly as the Hammers prepare for Saturday’s derby.

Millwall have suffered from an inconsistent start to the new season after their third place finish in the Championship last season, the club’s highest league finish in 32 years.

Alex Neil’s side kicked off the new campaign with four consecutive victories in all competitions, conceding just one goal in the process, before going on to lose four of their next five matches, including a 5-1 defeat at Southampton, with a 4-0 win over Bolton sandwiched in the middle of them.

After the Lions’ 2-2 draw at promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough on Tuesday night, in which the south east London side relinquished a 2-0 lead at half time, the club now sit 11th in the table with just one win, and four defeats, in their last six matches and without a win in their last three.

Despite being 10 places below their rivals, Millwall know that a win on Saturday would take them just one point behind the Hammers, very much breathing down their necks ahead of the three week break for international fixtures.

With Millwall lacking consistency and having been struck by a string of injuries to their squad, it is far from an ideal time to be playing against a West Ham side who have been running rampant in their last few Championship matches, in which they’ve been averaging four goals per game.

With the Hammers playing free flowing football and fresh off the back of a 6-0 win over promotion rivals in their last league outing, it’s difficult to look past another comfortable West Ham victory, perhaps a 3-0 away win on the cards on Saturday.

Millwall vs West Ham tips

Hammers iron out tame Lions

West Ham head into Saturday’s derby as by far the strongest team in the Championship over the last few weeks, winning four matches on the bounce to take them top of the table and averaging four goals per game in those matches.

Nuno’s side head into the match fresh off the back of a 6-0 victory over fellow promotion candidates Wrexham in their last match, while MIllwall have lost four of their last six matches, including a 3-0 defeat at home against that same Wrexham team.

Neil’s side looked to have got back to winning ways as they went into half time 2-0 up at Middlesbrough in the week, but couldn’t hold the game out and ended up having to settle for a point.

While West Ham are the Championship’s leading goal scorers this season, only one team in the entire division have conceded more goals than Millwall so far.

Bowen back banging in goals in Championship

Jarrod Bowen has taken well to life back in the Championship, nearly seven years after completing his move from then-second tier side Hull to the London Stadium.

The 29-year-old was signed having scored 16 league goals for the Tigers in the first half of that season, and now back in the second tier, the 22-time England international has made a fast start to the new campaign.

Bowen has six goals and four assists across eight starts in all competitions this season, including three goals and an assist in his last two league appearances, and has always seemed to be one for the big occasion for the east London club, and will no doubt be fired up for West Ham’s biggest game of the season.

Met with another card

New Millwall midfielder Jenson Metcalfe has been on the receiving end of more yellow cards than any other player on either team ahead of Saturday’s eagerly anticipated clash.

The former Bradford star received his fourth booking of the campaign in last weekend’s defeat at Blackburn, and will no doubt be up for the fight in what can be expected to be a feisty affair in the middle of the park as two of the country’s fiercest rivals face off for the first time in almost 15 years.

Millwall vs West Ham predicted lineups

Millwall (4-2-3-1): Crocombe (GK); Osei-Tutu, Taylor, Cooper, Sturge; Metcalfe, Mazou-Sacko; Issoufou, Neghli, Aronte; Dykes

West Ham (4-4-1-1): Hermansen (GK); Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Morato; Bowen, Mukasa, Engels, Solomon; Piroe; Castellanos

Millwall vs West Ham latest odds

Find the latest Millwall vs West Ham betting odds here. All odds are provided by our recommended football bookmakersand are subject to change.

  • Millwall – 14/5 with SBK
  • Draw – 14/5 with SBK
  • West Ham – 4/5 with BetMGM

More Championship predictions

We have plenty more club friendly predictions and picks – find our latest betting tips from expert punters in our match preview overview.

Important historical facts about Millwall vs West Ham

West Ham are undefeated against Millwall across their last four matches against their fierce rivals, leaving them without defeat in 22 years, though Saturday’s tie will be the first between the two teams in almost 15 years.

However, despite the Hammers’ recent dominance against the Lions, Saturday’s visitors haven’t won away from home at the Den in their last five attempts, with Millwall winning three of their last four home games against West Ham, who haven’t won at the home of their rivals in 38 years.

  • Last meeting: West Ham 2-1 Millwall (Feb 2012, Championship)
  • Last 6 matches: Millwall wins – 2; West Ham wins – 2; Draws – 2.

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