Apart from giving West Ham United‘s players a much needed boost of confidence and the fans a renewed sense of optimism, the uptick in form which has seen two wins in two has changed the outlook at those analytics experts OPTA.
West Ham’s movement up from nineteenth to eighth so early in the season, together with the improved squad now locked in following the end of the summer transfer window has all been factored into the latest predictions based on simulations run by the football analysts following the latest round of Championship games.
Opta predicts good news for Nuno, Bowen and West Ham fans come May 27.
Covered by the yorkshirepost.co.uk, Opta’s latest league table prediction offers some welcome encouragement for Nuno’s West Ham side.
Firstly, tonights opponents Bolton Wanderers are predicted to be relegated in 22nd place with just 50 points.
More importantly, West Ham United are predicted to finish the season as Championship runners up, winning automatic promotion with 78.53 points, four points ahead of their nearest rivals.
Predicted to be Champions are Middlesboro’ who will win the league with a points total of 78.75, showing how thin the margin between first and second place is forecast to be. Importantly the Hammers would escape the lottery of the new-look Championship playoffs, which, whilst they provide added drama, do nothing for the nervous disposition of the supporters of clubs involved.
A nice, boring, second place would do West Ham and their fans just right. However it shows the competitive nature of this division when the gap between relegation and becoming Champions is just 28 points, compared with that in the Premier League of almost fifty.
For those of you cynics who doubt the accuracy of their systems, I did take a peek back at last year’s Opta predictions and saw the analysts called it exactly right in October 2025, just over a year ago, with the top two teams – those winning automatic promotion – correctly predicted to be.. Coventry City first and Ipswich Town runners up.
So don’t dismiss it out of hand!