**West Ham Watching Brief — Rivals in Action Could Define Bournemouth Point**
We’ll only truly understand the value of West Ham United’s point against [AFC Bournemouth at the London Stadium](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-0-0-bournemouth-the-morning-after/) once the rest of our relegation rivals have completed their fixtures — three of whom are in action today.
On the surface, [Crystal Palace](https://www.claretandhugh.info/crystal-palace-bio/) look relatively comfortable. They have a decent gap on West Ham, face what appears an easier opponent in Wolverhampton Wanderers, and probably only need a couple more wins to feel safe.
But scratch beneath the surface and it’s a different story.
Palace feel like a club in turmoil, with Oliver Glasner widely believed to be eyeing the exit BEFORE the end of the season, while Wolves arrive in resurgent form after giving Arsenal a bloody nose last week.
Elsewhere, Arsenal themselves face Tottenham Hotspur — a match that suddenly carries relegation significance. Realistically, Spurs are one more defeat away from being dragged into a proper dogfight, which only makes it more frustrating that West Ham couldn’t take all three points yesterday and apply real scoreboard pressure.
Forest v Liverpool Looms Large
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The most important fixture of the afternoon, though, is Nottingham Forest versus Liverpool.
Forest now have a new man in the dugout, Vítor Pereira, who began his reign with an impressive 3–0 away win over Fenerbahçe SK.
Liverpool, however, represent a very different challenge.
Yes, Arne Slot’s side have shown their own vulnerabilities this season — and honestly, almost any result here wouldn’t shock me. But a Liverpool victory would heap immediate pressure on Pereira, and as we’ve seen recently at the City Ground, things can unravel quickly when results don’t go a manager’s way.
So it’s very much a watching brief this afternoon.
All eyes on those games.
Let’s just hope at least some of the results fall West Ham’s way.