Premier League matchday 12 was a mixed bag for West Ham, who remain in 14th place — a position we will hold irrespective of Monday’s game against Newcastle United at St James Park.
However, before anyone gets the party poppers out, a couple of teams below the Hammers have edged closer.
Everton failed to beat ten-man Brentford, despite playing the entire second half against a depleted Bees side following Norgaard’s dismissal on 41 minutes. The 0-0 draw moved the Toffees to within just one point of West Ham, but events in the Midlands are cause for greater concern.
Wolverhampton Wanderers secured back-to-back victories with an impressive 4-1 demolition of high-flying Fulham. With Wolves visiting the London Stadium at the start of December, what once looked like a winnable fixture now appears far more challenging, with Gary O’Neil’s side showing significant improvement.
Leicester City remain two points behind the Hammers after losing to Chelsea, but Crystal Palace — now in the relegation zone — have also closed the gap. Only four points and a solitary goal currently separate Julen Lopetegui’s team from the drop zone
Meanwhile we’ve seen nothing to suggest that we’ll be picking up any significant number of points anytime soon. Not looking forward to Monday nights game, I will watch peeking out from behind the sofa hoping to eat my hat…
“High flying Fulham” ??
Until today that was a fair comment, having only lost to City, Utd and Villa and beaten Newcastle and Forest. The expected win would have put them sixth.
All brought about by Sullivan appointing Lopetegui.
Who is probably a worse appointment than Avam Grant