West Ham’s quest for a top-seven Premier League finish to qualify for Europe next season looks like it could turn into a fight for the top 10. A resurgent AFC Bournemouth team beat Brighton three-nil today and are now only one point behind the Hammers, with a superior goal difference.
Chelsea’s draw with Aston Villa yesterday places them only one point behind West Ham; however, with two games in hand, the West Londoners are surely favourites to finish above David Moyes’ team.
West Ham visits Stamford Bridge for a Premier League fixture next Sunday, and Bournemouth must face an in-form Arsenal team still gunning for the title. With Manchester City and Luton Town still to play in the league this season, it’s not going to be easy for West Ham to finish in the top half of the table.
For what it’s worth, Chelsea seem to be inconsistent so winning next weekend is not beyond the realms of possibility. Unfortunately, we need a series of unlikely results from everyone else to go our way too, which would require something of a miracle.
Looking at every other teams fixtures I’m sorry to say that a 10th place Premier League fixture is far more likely than 7th.
To put in perspective, in the past then seasons, only 4 times did West Ham finish above the 49 points it currently holds:
56 points (21/22, finished 7th) Moyes
65 points (20/21, finished 6th) Moyes
52 points (18/19, finished 10th) Pellegrini
62 points (15/16, finished 7th) Bilic
All well and true but we’ve literally been in the European spots all season. If we were to fall away in the last 3 games it would be a massive L.
Fall away in the last three games? If you look at the form in 2024 we would only be above Sheffield United, Burnley, Luton and Forest.
I meant in terms of league position. We’ve been awful all 2024 but managed to hold on to 6-8th because our competitors have been equally **** and inconsistent. Sadly, some of them seem to be finding form.