What a weekend of results for West Ham! Our 3-0 away win over West Bromwich Albion was the perfect start to take us to our largest ever Premier League points tally of 59 points. Liverpool’s loss to Swansea putting them four points behind us on 55 points in eighth place was also welcome news and effectively wrote off their ambition of a top five finish.
Manchester United could only manage a draw against Premier League champions Leicester keeping the gap down to just one point with West Ham having a superior goal difference and Manchester City lost to Southampton 4-2 to be just 5 points above us in fourth place.
West Ham’s win on Saturday and Chelsea’s draw with Spurs yesterday means the Hammers are guaranteed to finish above Chelsea for the first time since 1995!
Fifth place is still very much within our grasp while a fourth place and Champions League football remains a remote possibility. The major thing we have in our favour is both Manchester clubs have their minds elsewhere and their eyes on other prizes.
Manchester City face Real Madrid tomorrow in the second leg of the Champions League semi final with the first leg drawn 0-0. Should they win tomorrow evening, their minds will be firmly on the Champions League final on 28th May in Milan and not on their penultimate game against Arsenal this weekend or their last game against Swansea away. Two defeats, two draws or a loss and a draw would see them finish on between 64, 65 or 66 points with West Ham needing at least two wins from their remaining three games to have a small chance. Three wins over Swansea, Manchester United and Stoke would put us on 68 points with a real chance of fourth place should Manchester City slip up.
Manchester United also have their eyes on the FA Cup final with Crystal Palace at Wembley on 21st May. They face Norwich away this weekend as the Canaries fight for Premier League survival. It won’t be an easy game for them and will be a tough battle. They will then face West Ham next Tuesday evening for the last ever game at the Boleyn Ground.
Emotions will be high and we still remain unbeaten in the League at home since August last year. Finally the Red Devils play Bournemouth at Old Trafford in their last game of the season which just just six days before the FA Cup final. I can see them resting a few players in the run up to the Wembley showpiece. If we win all our three remaining games we are guaranteed to finish above Manchester United, it is as simple as that!
Our season isn’t over yet and we must make those last three games count. At £1.3m per Premier League place together with the riches that wait us in the Europa or Champions Leagues we can make this truly a season to remember. Come on you Irons!
