**Opta has recently conducted another analysis of fixtures and who has the hardest opponents, which might frighten Hammers fans about the outcome.**
Analysing fixtures may sound silly to some, given that everyone plays everyone at the beginning of the season, but the fact of the matter is that West Ham haven’t taken their opportunities when they’ve needed to and now face a tough selection of opponents coming into the backend of the season.
Opta have officially predicted West Ham to have the hardest fixtures remaining, with an average opponent rating of 105.4 and at the bottom of the rankings is Leeds United, who have a 95.5 fixture rating. The other teams that have been tipped for relegation, such as Spurs and Forest, are ranked both 10th and 6th by Opta.
Whilst suffering towards the backend of a relegation fight as well as the difficulty of needing to navigate around injuries and suspensions, it appears that West Ham will have their work cut out for themvworryingly.
With fixtures such as Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle and Aston Villa remaining, it honestly doesn’t come as a surprise to see that the Hammers will be suffering the most. A lot of other sides who are in the mix for relegation also do have to suffer by playing some of the top teams, but as Opta has compiled, it is West Ham who have the hardest fixtures of all.
Not only do Nuno and his side have the hardest fixtures, but they’re also the side that needs to catch up with the rest of the field.
West Ham are currently three points away from Nottingham Forest, and a result this weekend could change the table entirely. Tottenham are away to Arsenal at the Emirates and Nottingham Forest are set to take on Liverpool, whilst the might Irons take on Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
There’s a handful of ifs, buts and maybes, but at the end of the day, it’s a tough situation which you have to take day by day, otherwise, it’ll appear worse than it looks.