With West Ham and Manchester United set to face off at Old Trafford tomorrow, the Premier League fixture list has thrown up a few relegation scraps that could have a real impact on the Hammers.
The big “six-pointer” is Nottingham Forest away to Wolves — and from a West Ham perspective, it’s a difficult one to call. If Forest lose, they’re kept right in the dogfight alongside ourselves. But if Wolves win, they’ll move to within six points of the Irons and spark a potential mini revival. Maybe a draw is the safest outcome?
Burnley entertain Crystal Palace — hopefully with very little in the entertainment department — while Chelsea travel to Elland Road, where we can only hope they take three points off Leeds United.
A Grim Reality for West Ham Fans
It says everything about West Ham’s situation that supporters are nervously tracking the results of Burnley, Forest and Wolves in the hope that their shortcomings keep us in the Premier League.
Fulham, meanwhile, lost a nine-goal thriller to Manchester City, going down 4–5. But realistically, they’re five points clear and unlikely to be anywhere near the relegation zone given their recent performances.
So all eyes turn to tonight’s fixtures — and at least Nuno and the lads will have the benefit of watching the other strugglers play first.
I’m not sure I’m ready to seal the doors on this 5-team relegation mini-league just yet, Gonzo. We’re not entirely adrift, although a lot will depend on what happens over Christmas.
Personally, I think NES needs to go big and sell Paqueta, invest in a strong Granit Xhaka style midfield leader (who can then take the captain’s armband) and set us up for a powerful, if not pretty finish to the season.
You can’t rely on other teams to cover your own shortcomings.
Plain and simple, as things stand we are not a Premier League team.
Can’t defend, can’t tackle, can’t pass and can’t score, other than that we ain’t bad !
Sullivan is finally going to send us to Blackburn……😩
For a few years under DM I thought we had finally stabilised, that we could consistently be a higher mid-division team.
I think more than a few of us raised our eyebrows when he announced he liked to work with a smaller squad at the beginning of the same season we started the decline to where we are now.
I’m loving how NES is bringing in youth and promoting Academy players (possibly out of necessity), I think it will pay dividends in the long run.
I just hope we can avoid the pain of relegation.
I also hope we get some much needed modernisation and professionalism at Board level.