A look at the weekend fixtures offers hope and pessimism in almost equal parts.

Realistically, the highest the Hammers could go is probably eighth with that poor goal difference from indifferent defending the reason why.

Defeat by the team below us – and with one point less – could see us plummet into the danger zone although it would take a strange set of results for us to be in a really troubling area.

However, whichever way you look at it a win – or at the very least a draw – now looks a real necessity as we head into another international break.

There’s nothing worse that a fortnight of that awful interlude to sweat given the next match on our agenda against Spurs sets us off on a very tough looking series of fixtures.

The eternal optimist – and despite  defeats at Turf Moor over the last two years – I reckon a draw is the least we will get.

Come to your own conclusions on where we may be on Sunday evening…here are the fixtures with C and H predictions:

Saturday:

Chelsea v Palace DRAW

Newcastle v Bournemouth DRAW

Saints v Everton HOME WIN

Spurs v Sheffield United AWAY WIN

Leicester City v Arsenal HOME WIN

Sunday

Man United v Brighton DRAW

Wolves v Villa DRAW

Liverpool v Man City DRAW

Here’s the League table link to work out our position at the end of it all

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/tables