West Ham United could drag bitter rivals Tottenham down into the battle for Premier League survival, according to Wayne Rooney.
For the first time in months, there is a genuine feeling of optimism regarding West Ham’s chances of staying in the Premier League this season.
The weekend just gone feels like a big one at the bottom of the Premier League table. Nottingham Forest, of course, lost on Friday night and the Hammers were able to close the gap to safety.
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A split image showing Alphonse Areola and Mads Hermansen's appearance stats for West Ham United this season.
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Indeed, West Ham’s 2-0 win over Burnley gives them hope in the relegation battle. They are now just three points behind Sean Dyche’s side with 13 games left to play.
For many, it will surely be between West Ham, Forest and Leeds. Burnley and Wolves look condemned already, while the gap between Leeds and the drop zone is still six points.
Spurs are level on points with Daniel Farke’s side, however, and Rooney does not believe they can be ruled out as potential relegation candidates.
Wayne Rooney says West Ham could catch Tottenham in the Premier League table
The England legend was speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show.
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Reflecting on Tottenham’s loss to Manchester United on Saturday afternoon, Rooney claimed Thomas Frank’s side are very much in a relegation scrap.
They finished 17th last season and while that was masked by winning the Europa League, their domestic form has been dreadful for a while now.
Furthermore, they will be without captain Cristian Romero after he was sent off at Old Trafford.
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A graphic showing Mateus Fernandes being voted Man of the Match by West Ham fans vs Burnley.
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Of the relegation battle, Rooney said: “You’d have to say they are [in a relegation battle] with their current form.
“West Ham have been in form, Nottingham Forest pick up results here and there.
“You can’t think that they’re not in a relegation battle where they are. I think they’ll definitely be looking over their shoulders.”
Callum Wilson celebrates with West Ham United teammates after scoring against Tottenham.
Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP via Getty Images
Staying up while Tottenham go down would make this a famous season for West Ham
Clearly, Spurs do currently hold the advantage over West Ham. They are six points clear and, at this stage of the campaign, one would surely rather have points on the board than not.
Still, Spurs are in dire form and appear to be in genuine free fall in a domestic context. West Ham, meanwhile, are one of the form teams across the Premier League in recent weeks.
Their poor run of results at least gives the Hammers another team to aim for.
For many, it’ll be hard to imagine Spurs going down given they are one of few ever-presents in Premier League history.
Still, as Rooney says, it’s not completely out of the question.
The West Ham vs Tottenham rivalry is one of the fiercest around. Securing safety at their expense would make this season, so dreadful for most of the time, a huge success.
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