Nuno Espirito Santo looks concerned with Mikel Arteta and Daniel Farke (inset)
Credit: Imago
Richie Mills
Thu 16 April 2026 18:10, UK
West Ham United are the biggest time-wasters for taking free-kicks when they are leading a game in the Premier League this season.
That is according to new figures from The Times, who report that West Ham are a mid-table team when it comes to going slow when they are winning a match.
As the years have gone by, the Premier League appears to be engaging in the dark arts more often, and time-wasting is at the top of that list.
Taking extra time over corners, throw-ins, goalkeepers, and players going down with supposed head injuries are commonplace this season.
Ahead of West Ham’s trip to Crystal Palace on Monday, the Hammers’ time-wasting tactics have been compared to those of the rest of the division, where some teams are worse than others.
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West Ham’s mixed bag of time-wasting
Some sides waste time more than others when the scores are level, but everyone tends to slow down when they are winning an encounter.
Certainly, in West Ham’s 4-0 win over Wolves, Nuno Espirito Santo‘s team were intent on punishing Rob Edwards’ outfit, something they did with ruthless effectiveness.
West Ham Wolves
Shots: 18 14
Expected Goals: 1.68 0.61
One-on-one attempts: Two 0
Distance covered: 110.32km 108.37km
But for the season so far, The Times‘ Hamzah Khalique-Loonat has outlined how West Ham take the most time over free-kicks when leading a game.
But they are down in 16th for corners, direct free-kicks, and goal kicks, while for throw-ins they are seventh.
On average, Leeds and Arsenal are the first and second worst offenders across the board, and Brighton and Fulham are at the opposite end of the scale.
Leeds and Arsenal also tend to take 14 more seconds to restart play when they are ahead of their opponents compared to when they are level, with West Ham in third at 12 seconds (drawing: 35.82 vs winning: 47.83).
That does not make for great reading.
Time is of the essence for West Ham in relegation fight
In early January, West Ham looked down and out after a defeat to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, with Nuno’s side languishing in 18th.
But a handful of wins in recent months has propelled them out of the bottom three with six games remaining.
West Ham may only need a couple more victories to survive, but they cannot afford to allow their rivals to do them favours – they need to do it on their own.
West Ham’s 2026 results vs relegation rivals
West Ham 18 points
Leeds United 16 points
Nottingham Forest 15 points
Wolves 14 points
Burnley Eight points
Tottenham Five points
With Tottenham currently on a 14-game winless run, the time is now for West Ham to put more daylight between them and their London rivals.
The Hammers are currently two points clear, but that can jump to five with a win at Palace on Monday, so long as Tottenham fail to beat Brighton on Saturday.
There are plenty more twists to come, that’s for sure.