If West Ham United are going to survive in the Premier League this season, there’s little doubt we’ll have to do it the hard way — because nobody appears to be doing us any favours.
Aside from Leeds United beating Nottingham Forest on Friday night, many of the sides we were hoping might slide into poor form simply aren’t obliging.
Plenty had pinned hopes on Crystal Palace continuing their mid-season slump and drifting towards the relegation places. After all, West Ham’s victory over Burnley FC meant the Eagles were just six points above us heading into their derby trip to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Unfortunately, Palace ground out a 1–0 win against a Brighton side who looked completely incapable of testing Dean Henderson.
Yes, Tottenham Hotspur lost to Manchester United, keeping them within touching distance — but the reality is clear now.
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West Ham must take care of their own form.
Tuesday Night Feels Massive Already
It’s increasingly likely that the points total required for Premier League survival will be higher than in previous seasons. Let’s just hope West Ham aren’t left rueing dropped points from that dreadful Christmas run, when several fixtures looked ripe for wins.
Recent form has at least been encouraging. Even the defeat to Chelsea offered positives for Nuno Espírito Santo, while the performances either side of it have shown real signs of life.
But if we were hoping for crumbs of comfort from mid-table sides regularly slipping up, we may well be out of luck.
Which is why Tuesday night suddenly feels enormous.
A home win against Manchester United at the London Stadium would be massive — not just for the table, but for belief.
Because right now, West Ham’s survival is firmly in our own hands. And if we’re going to stay up, it looks like we’ll have to earn every single point ourselves.