3rd February 2026 Daniel Luker (@danielluker_)
By Conor Hogan
West Ham will have their eyes on an all-important relegation six-pointer on Friday night, as Leeds take on Nottingham Forest at Elland Road.
Both sides currently sit just outside the drop zone, each six points ahead of the Irons, who face Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday in a must-win game. Both Leeds and Forest have secured victories over Nuno Espírito Santo’s side in recent months, with Forest beating the Hammers 2–1 in an agonising encounter at the London Stadium last month.
Following that game, West Ham looked certain for the drop, but wins against Spurs and Sunderland put them right back in the race for safety this season. Unfortunately for the Irons, that coincided with Forest’s impressive early 2026 form. Sean Dyche’s side drew with Arsenal at the City Ground before defeating Brentford 2–0 to keep the gap between the sides at five points before last weekend.
As for Leeds, they have won only one game in their last seven, although they have picked up points against Liverpool, Manchester United, Everton and Sunderland in that time. Daniel Farke’s side seem to be finding a way to pick up results and have secured an impressive 19 points at home this season.
The game will be an interesting one for West Ham fans, as at least one of their relegation rivals is guaranteed to drop points. For the Hammers, a draw would probably be the best result. Both Forest and Leeds would drop points, and a win for Nuno’s side against Burnley would allow the Irons to close the gap to four points on both teams.
Although every point earned by a relegation rival is a point further away from West Ham, if Leeds and Forest took points off each other, they would both remain in the relegation battle this season, giving the Irons two teams to target rather than one.
However, none of this matters if Nuno’s side don’t win their own games. The Hammers were unfortunate not to pick up at least a point at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, but they need to manage games better if they are to have any chance of survival.
Kick-off between Leeds and Forest is at 8pm on Friday night.