West Ham play last in what could prove the pivotal weekend in this season’s Premier League relegation battle. Ahead of all of the relevant kick-offs, Hammers fans know that their team could be five points ahead of Tottenham come Tuesday morning – or one point behind and back in the relegation zone with five to play.
The Crystal Palace game is a real test for Nuno’s West Ham: If they are to pull off the greatest escape since the last one, you’d feel a win and three points is a must. Everton, Arsenal and Brentford await after, and points will be hard to come by.
Casting around for an objective opinion of West Ham’s chances against Crystal Palace – for I’m hardly a ‘neutral’ – the 4thofficial.net sounded a note of cautious optimism:
The worry is that Selhurst Park is never an easy place to go, and Crystal Palace are lethal on the counter. Nuno knows a 4–0 win can lead to a soft dressing room, and his blunt, no-nonsense media presence shows he isn’t letting that happen.
Picking up five wins from 11 isn’t just a decent run; for a team that couldn’t buy a win for 10 straight games earlier this year, it’s a massive turnaround. The grit Nuno has instilled suggests the Hammers might actually have enough to see this through.”
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‘Massive turnaround’ it might be – but the job is nowhere near complete yet. Nuno was certainly right to ward off any complacency suggestions yesterday.
We’ll have to hope for Brighton to do the necessary against Spurs tomorrow-I’ll cheer myself up with the standard.co.uk’s prediction:
“With Brighton very much on form, we expect another tough afternoon for Spurs. Brighton to win, 2-0.”Happy Saturday, Hammers fans.