Category: Preview

With the race for Premier League title now down to a one-horse race, all the excitement (at least in the media) will be focused on the thrilling battle for fourth place.  Today’s visitors, formerly Woolwich Arsenal, subsequently changed to just plain Arsenal could easily re-brand themselves as Fourth Placed Arsenal given their record over recent seasons.  The one-time “Invincibles” are without a title since 2004 and for all of Wenger’s astuteness in the transfer market and his attack minded credentials has never been able to reproduce the defensive efficiency provided by the bulldog backbone of Tony Adams and Co.

As things stand there is a bigger gap between Arsenal and Manchester City than there is between ourselves and the Gunners; and West Ham will be looking to build on their recent upturn in fortunes to close that gap even further.  It will be no surprise if tonight’s game follows a similar pattern to the one against Chelsea as Arsenal attempt to weave intricate patterns through the middle of a hopefully disciplined Hammers backline – but without any real menace until they bring on Giroud for the final ten minutes.  My biggest concern for a breach, however, is how well pirouetting Arthur Masuaku deals with the forward runs of Bellerin.

The Arsenal defence was all Keystone Cops against Southampton at the weekend and they looked so vulnerable that is was a surprise that the Saints did not have the match sewn up by half-time.  The dilemma for Moyes will be how to put the visitors under pressure and exploit that vulnerability while at the same time protecting against Arsenal’s quick breaks, something they continue to excel at.  Recent West Ham performances have given supporters a great deal of encouragement but it is difficult to know whether the new found character would stay strong if an early goal were conceded.  For that reason, I suspect that caution will be the watchword as the Hammers go in search of more bonus points in support of their survival plan.

Head to Head

The record against Arsenal is not one of West Ham’s better returns.  Of the 137 games played the Hammers have won thirty four but lost sixty three.  Of the last twelve encounters, the 2-0 victory in August 2015 is the only West Ham win to Arsenal’s ten.

Strangely the Hammers have won more games away against Arsenal than they have at home.  The last West Ham win was in November 2006 courtesy of a Marlon Harewood strike.  That was the only success in the last twelve home games to go with eight defeats and three draws.  West Ham have only won fourteen of sixty-eight home fixtures against the Gunners.

Team News

It would be a huge surprise if Moyes made any changes from the side that started so well against Chelsea, relying again on Michail Antonio and Marko Arnautovic to unsettle the visitor’s defence (at least until they tire!)

Arsenal are without Ramsey, Mustafi and Cazorla and Wenger may be tempted to shuffle his dodgy defensive pack.  Whatever else happens there will always be threat potential if Sanchez, Ozil and Lacazette are at the top of their game.

Man in The Middle

Another first of the season as we welcome Jonathan Moss from West Yorkshire to the London Stadium.  West Ham came across Moss twice last term in a home defeat by Southampton and an away draw at Old Trafford.  In fourteen matches this season he has shown forty-two yellows and one red card.

Predictions

Former Gunner Paul Merson is repeating his weekend forecast of a 1-3 defeat for the Hammers while Lawro is once again playing safe with a 1-1 draw.  Personally I think there is another perfect opportunity to pull off a surprise tonight and leave Wenger moaning about how his players were tired and cold.  In a patient and stealthy game I can see West Ham nabbing a 2-1 win.

Once again I am able to use my analogy from Forrest Gump that West Ham are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. The win against champions Chelsea on Saturday was unexpected and gave us a much-needed three points in our efforts to climb the table. Nevertheless we are still in the bottom three, and need to continue to demonstrate a consistency of effort and performance to retain the excellent backing from the fans. The atmosphere generated in the London Stadium once again disproved the nonsensical argument that the venue can be compared to a library. All football grounds can be like that at times when the home team are not doing well. Yes, it is not an ideal stadium at the present time and we can hope that structural changes at some stage in the future can make it better. For the time being we have to live with it and not keep harping back to Upton Park. We are not going back. For the record I love the stadium and speak to many others who feel likewise, but until we win more games at home then there will always be doubters.

With three points for a win and just one for a draw, then even if we remained unbeaten and managed a draw in each of the Chelsea and Arsenal games this week, we wouldn’t have been in as good a position as winning one and losing one. And having won the first then hopefully we can do it again in the second against the odds.

Recent history of this fixture suggests that it won’t be an easy task to say the least. Of course we won on their ground in the opening game of the 2015-16 season when Reece Oxford famously kept Ozil in his pocket, but that followed ten consecutive defeats at the hands of the Gunners. The last time we beat them at home was when Marlon Harewood scored a late winner in 2006 which sparked an interesting confrontation between Pardew and Wenger. The Arsenal manager seemed to take offence at our manager’s celebrations, a situation which has reared its head this week following accusations of over-celebration by City players when they won the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Sunday.

We now have 13 points from 16 games, which means that even a win tonight would still not bring us up to the one point per game average that is the absolute minimum needed to keep us in with a chance of avoiding the drop. But I am looking forward to more than that.

I will repeat the run of 10 league games following Arsenal tonight to highlight the opportunity that we have to significantly improve our position by 10 February. It would be good if we could collect an average of somewhere between 1.5 and 2 points a game in these fixtures. If we could achieve this we will be going a long way towards allaying relegation fears.  (A) v Stoke, (H) v Newcastle, (A) v Bournemouth, (H) v West Brom, (A) v Tottenham, (A) v Huddersfield, (H) v Bournemouth, (H) v Palace, (A) v Brighton, and (H) v Watford, presents a realistic opportunity (on paper) to start to climb the table. Failure to do so will bring a nervous run-in to the season.

It is pleasing to see that the way-over-the-top negative reaction to the appointment of David Moyes has died down considerably. There is still a long way to go of course, but the work ethic and organisation he (and his staff) has introduced are clearly evident in recent games. He has a good record and must be given the opportunity to make an impact. Rome wasn’t built in a day and I believe that he realises the task ahead and is prioritising what is necessary to achieve improvement. One small criticism I would level against him in the Chelsea game was his inability to realise that Antonio was out on his feet long before he was substituted.

Once again the bookmakers have virtually written off our chances but if you believe that there is a chance that we will cause another upset you can get around 9/2 on a West Ham win. Personally I would take a draw from this game, but hope of course for a second victory in five days. Despite being a top six side, Arsenal are not quite the team that they once were, and are eminently beatable. One statistic that surprised me was that the Gunners are fourth in the table of goals conceded in 2017, showing that their once renowned defence can be breached. We certainly don’t want a repeat of the 5-1 defeat that we suffered here last season.

The much under-rated Pedro Obiang was in my opinion one of the reasons that we kept a world class player like Hazard quiet at the weekend, and I don’t believe that he gets the credit he deserves for this unfashionable role. I would expect him to be deployed in similar fashion against Ozil, or perhaps Sanchez tonight. Arnautavic and Masuaku were rightly singled out for excellent games, but it really was a whole team performance. Masuaku is really becoming a bit a bit of a revelation in an attacking sense, and providing he doesn’t try his wonderful tricks in vulnerable areas of the pitch then he can become a major creator for us going forward. I would expect Hernandez to play a part now that he appears to have recovered, and Carroll does have a very good record of scoring against Arsenal as witnessed in the 3-3 draw a couple of seasons ago, and even in his Newcastle days.

Adrian deserves his chance to continue between the sticks, but I cannot agree with the vilification of Hart that I read. Hopefully the competition between the two keepers will spur them both on to produce top class performances. Cresswell had one of his best games for ages at the weekend, and the unlikely threesome when he combined with Reid and Ogbonna, who both performed excellently, is likely to be the selection for this game. Noble performed admirably, and Lanzini, whilst not being at the top of his game at the moment, is still our best hope of unlocking opposition defences. But whoever is selected (and I don’t expect many changes) let us hope for another stirring game and three more points.

No matter what the outcome of today’s home fixture against Chelsea, West Ham will sit in one of the three relegation places at the end of this weekend’s set of fixtures.  There is even a reasonable chance that, with Swansea hosting West Bromwich Albion, the Hammers could end up rock bottom should David Moyes fail to secure his first win as West Ham manager.

Although Chelsea are reigning Champions, the prospect of a game against their current side should not be regarded as overly daunting; they are far from unbeatable.  But to stop Chelsea you need to stop Eden Hazard, a player who has had a hand in seven of the last eight goals that his team have scored past the Hammers.  Having watched Chelsea’s game last week at home to Newcastle everything revolved around Hazard and Kante.  Between them they picked up nearly every loose ball and moved it quickly and intelligently forward.  The challenge for West Ham is whether they can demonstrate the competency and discipline to stem this tide without giving away free-kicks in dangerous positions or even worse penalties.  A strategy of conceding possession might be a dangerous game to play in the circumstances but a player with the ability to man-mark Hazard is not someone available in the Hammer’s squad.

The commitment shown in last week’s display at Manchester City would be welcome again today and if the effort of the players can get a response from a passionate crowd then West Ham do have the capacity to unsettle the visitors.

Head to Head

In the pre-rouble era this was an evenly contested affair where West Ham even held a slight advantage; but the tables have been totally turned over recent years with Chelsea now holding a ten win margin in the 108 games played.  West Ham have, however, managed to record three wins (seven defeats) in the last twelve home and away encounters in all competitions.

The Hammers have won twenty-seven (lost twenty) of the fifty-five home fixtures against the west Londoners while only eight have ended all square.

Team News

West Ham sit proudly atop the Physio Room Premier League injured table although which players are available this afternoon is far from uncertain.  It is reported that Jose Fonte, Sam Byram and James Collins are definitely out but others including Javier Hernandez, Winston Reid, Mark Noble and Andy Carroll may all be in the squad.  Watching Cheikhou Kouyate hobble off last weekend it would be a surprise if he made it into the starting line-up which may give Noble a route back in.

It looks like Adrian will rightly retain the keeper’s shirt (and shorts hopefully) and there could well be one or two other changes from the team that started at the Etihad.  How the team looks may well depend on the extent of Moyes attacking ambition or if stifling Chelsea is taken as the primary objective.

Chelsea are without the superficially impressive David Luiz and workmanlike Danny Drinkwater but unfortunately there are no injury concerns over Eden Hazard.

Man In The Middle

A first meeting of the season today with Anthony Taylor from Cheshire. Taylor was referee for four West Ham games last season including away defeats at Chelsea (where he failed to send off match-winner Diego Costa), Everton and Leicester.  He was also in charge for the Hammers heroic win over Tottenham Hotspur last May.

His record to date this term is thirteen games with fifty-two yellows but yet to get off the red card mark.  Watch this space.

Predictions

The BBC’s Lawro has been kind to us once more this week and is predicting a 1-1 stalemate.  Sky’s Merson on the other hand is going for a 1-3 Hammer’s defeat.

I was badly (and encouragingly) wrong on a feared Manchester City landslide last week and much will depend on whether there is now some traction towards consistent improvement or whether performances will continue to fluctuate up and down.  In the interests of positivity I will back West Ham for a nail-biting 1-0 victory.

For those of us old enough to remember the 1960s, there was a popular song at the end of the decade famously recorded by Fairport Convention, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Diamond entitled Chelsea Morning. The song began with the line “I woke up it was a Chelsea morning.” Well today is not exactly a Chelsea morning, but kick off time is 12.30, so our Saturday morning is spent travelling to the London Stadium for an early start time. How I look forward to 23 December when we kick off the game against Newcastle at the traditional time of 3pm on a Saturday, which will be only the second time this season when a home game will commence at this “normal” time.

Today’s game will be the fifth under our new manager and we have yet to see a victory. The opener at Watford was a poor performance, the following home fixture against Leicester showed much improvement from both the players and the fans, then the game at Goodison Park was appalling. None of us expected much at the Etihad Stadium last Sunday, but we led unexpectedly at half-time thanks to Ogbonna’s well placed header, and were within a few minutes of getting a point against the runaway Premier League leaders who have been brushing aside all and sundry this season. But the solitary point from the last four games leaves us firmly entrenched in the relegation zone with two difficult games against top six sides to follow, and unless we can start winning some games we could easily find ourselves beginning to become detached from safety.

But after Chelsea (today) and Arsenal (in midweek) we embark on a run of league fixtures which, on paper at least, most are games that will be easier for us to start a winning run and begin to climb the table. If we don’t then our season could be well defined by February as one that sees us in a desperate scramble to try to retain our place in the top flight.

The 10 league games following Arsenal are:

16 Dec – (A) v Stoke
23 Dec – (H) v Newcastle
26 Dec – (A) v Bournemouth
2 Jan – (H) v West Brom
4 Jan (A) v Tottenham
13 Jan (A) v Huddersfield
20 Jan (H) v Bournemouth
30 Jan (H) v Palace
3 Feb – (A) v Brighton
10 Feb (H) v Watford

Currently we have just ten points from fifteen games. By the end of the Watford game on 10 February we will have played 27 games, which is almost the three-quarters point in the season. That will then leave us just 11 games to retain our Premier League status, of which six (of the last nine) will be at home to Burnley, Manchester United, Southampton, Stoke, Manchester City and Everton.

So in the next 12 games (including Chelsea and Arsenal this week) we will need to collect at least 17 points to achieve the point a game average at that time which is likely to be the minimum that we will need to be outside the relegation places. And that may not even be enough! I see the five home league games between 23 December and 10 February as ones that can be described as “must win”, and at the same time we must start to pick up some points on our travels. Points obtained against Chelsea and Arsenal this week would be a bonus, and two wins would be simply fantastic, but being realistic that is a lot to hope for, but it won’t stop me hoping!

The players who lined up at the Etihad acquitted themselves well and all will be looking to retain their places against Chelsea. Surely Adrian will start in goal, but whether all of the others will keep their places is hard to predict, and will be subject to any injuries picked up, as well as any players that may be fit to return to the squad. But our new manager is keeping his cards close to his chest, so let us hope that he plays his cards right. Apparently Chelsea will be without Luiz and Drinkwater. That is a shame as I wouldn’t have minded them both playing when compared to some other players at their disposal.

Once again the bookmakers have virtually written off our chances but if you believe that there is a chance that we will cause an upset you can get around 6/1 on a home victory, or 10/1 on West Ham to win and both teams to score. If you fancy a fun bet that is a little different then Paddy Power are offering 33/1 on the following four things all to happen: West Ham to score the first goal and win the first corner, and Chelsea to receive the first card and win the first throw-in.

It will be cold watching for us tomorrow, with the wind chill factor making it seem like minus temperatures. It would be great to spring a surprise, but realistically anything that we can get out of the game will be a bonus.

It is only a fighting comeback from Stoke at home to Swansea yesterday that prevents this match from being billed as top versus bottom.  West Ham with the worst goal difference and joint worse goals conceded in the division take on rampant, runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.  The cash rich Arab lottery winners have already scored forty-four goals this season (conceding only nine) and could easily bring up their half-century by the end of this afternoon’s encounter.

Many of us might have looked at City’s rise to fame and fortune as the prototype promised land of next levels after we followed their example by moving from an old much loved home into a new stadium at the end of an athletics tournament.  It is there, however, that the comparison currently ends and in terms of any other metric – professionalism, flair, class, talent, organisation, ambition, training facilities, half-time pies – the gap between the two clubs is one of several divisions rather than just the length of the Premier League.   Perhaps one day West Ham will also be bought by a small middle-eastern country – probably just as the oil runs out!

Any concept of competitiveness in today’s game is as tenuous as if it were a bunch non-league postmen, plumbers and supermarket shelf-stackers turning up for a third round cup tie against illustrious top flight superstars; with not even the hint of a potential banana skin in sight.   David Moyes claim that “I’ve never gone into any game thinking we’ve not got a chance of winning” will surely be put to the test today.

Head to Head

Historically any trip to Manchester and Liverpool has been undertaken with hope rather expectation but, of those four confrontations, the one against City, prior to their windfall at least, would have offered the greatest promise.  Even so, West Ham have only come away from the away fixture with all the points on twelve out of fifty three attempts. Most recently, the Hammers have won only once (lost ten) in the last twelve visits.

Team News

West Ham are reportedly missing Carroll, Hernandez, Reid, Collins, Fonte and Byram through injury.  Leaden footed Joe Hart is thankfully ineligible due to the terms of his loan deal and so Adrian gets a long overdue opportunity to impress in a Premier League game.

I have read various team news speculation during the week about formations and lineups which range from pragmatic damage limitation to the more bizarre including suggestions of playing Zabaleta at centre back or in midfield; strange that those having criticised Bilic for playing players out of position would believe that such an idea would have any more legs than the player himself.  You can’t fault Pablo’s spirit (and a return to the scene of his many achievements will be emotional) but he is well past his best before date at this level.

There will be probable returns for Antonio and Rice in what will undoubtedly turn out to be a backs to the wall, massed defence, bus-parking exercise – until we are eventually sliced open by City’s quick and slick inter-passing play.  The frailty in the centre of midfield is likely to be the most easily exposed and exploited of West Ham’s many obvious weaknesses.

City are without Stones and Mendy but have sufficient £50 million replacements to put out a decent enough starting eleven, which may worryingly also see the return of Sane.

The Man in the Middle

Mike Dean doesn’t have far to travel from his Wirral home to take charge of this afternoon’s game.  Dean was witness to the only highlight of the Hammer’s season to date when he ref’d the EFL cup win over free-falling Tottenham Hotspur.  In eleven games this season Dean has issued thirty-six yellow cards and just one red one (Raheem Sterling at Bournemouth).

Predictions

Even the usually cautious Lawro has predicted a 3-0 win for City while Merson is going one better at 4-0.  Anything less than four will have a better than expected feel about it but I fear it will be worse, particularly with the lack of character and leadership on the field.  Once the first goal goes in heads are likely to drop faster than London Stadium attendances in the Championship.  Having predicted a midweek win at Goodison I would be more than happy to have my clairvoyant skills shown up once again but my contingency is a course of mild sedation before the match kicks off.

I have been supporting West Ham for almost sixty years. I am an optimist by nature. I must have watched us play more than a thousand games of football. On virtually every occasion, I’ve always thought that we had a chance of winning the game. OK I’ll admit sometimes it is a slight chance or a long shot, but a chance nonetheless. But for this game? We are more likely to see a blue moon.

On Sunday afternoon we face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Now City have really been a class apart so far this season in the Premier League. These are some of the thoughts attributed to our manager this week ahead of our visit. He has said that “I think that there have been moments when we’ve looked OK.” Even if there have been, my understanding of the word moment is that it refers to a very brief period of time, perhaps a second or two. The word OK is perhaps a very overused word that means adequate or acceptable. I just have a feeling that looking adequate for a few seconds won’t be anywhere near enough to trouble the league leaders.

He has also said “the players are trying to improve and get better”. Well sitting in the bottom three then this is something I would be hoping for. Shouldn’t this be true of all professional footballers at all times? This was followed by “a lot of our goals are down to individual mistakes.” Tell me something that anyone who follows the team didn’t know. He then said “we’ve got a good team.” Many comments I’ve read on social media and in the newspapers this week would suggest that there are a number of people out there who wouldn’t necessarily agree with that one.

He finished with “I’ve never gone into any game thinking that we’ve not got a chance of winning.” Now going back to my opening paragraph this is something I’ve almost always believed, albeit sometimes with many doubts. But this time I am going to make an exception. I really don’t believe that we have any chance whatsoever. In fact it would take a miracle.

One definition of a miracle:

A miracle is an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency.

My grandson (who is seven) was asked at school this week as part of an English lesson to come up with a sentence that included the word miracle. His offering was “It would be the most amazing miracle of all time if West Ham beat Manchester City on Sunday.” The teacher was full of praise for his excellent understanding of the meaning of the word.

I’ll be watching the game on Sunday with a fellow West Ham fan in a local pub in Bury St Edmunds. I’ll be taking my abacus along to help me keep track of the score, and I’ll be praying for a miracle. On current form this is likely to be one of the most one-sided games in the history of the Premier League. No team has yet scored ten goals in a single game (the record is 9). If you believe in miracles and fancy a flutter here are some of the bets (using Paddy Power as an example) you may like to consider:

West Ham to win the game 33/1
West Ham to win 2-0 200/1
West Ham to win 3-0, 4-0, or 4-1 500/1
No goals to be scored in the game 45/1
Man. City to win 10-0 500/1

There is a saying that is something along the lines of “you never can tell what will happen in a game of football”. This time I think I’ve got a pretty good idea. But I’ll still be hoping for a miracle,

The battle for the club in greatest disarray enters a new phase today as West Ham travel to the usually unproductive north-west to fight it out with embattled Everton. There was a period where the Hammers looked likely to overtake early season pace setters Crystal Palace in the shambolic stakes but after the weekend results Everton have dramatically claimed pole position.

If Burnley and Watford are the two surprise teams of the season so far (in a positive sense) then West Ham and Everton are their mirror image. Everton in particular, after a healthy finish in 2016/17 and a heavy investment in the squad which gave the look of a good balance between youth and experience, have performed woefully. In the same way that West Ham’s swagger in Slaven Bilic’s inaugural season relied heavily on the exploits of the moody French free-kick specialist, it seems that Everton’s fortunes were largely courtesy of the steady supply of Lukaku goals. Failure to replace the prolific Belgian cost Ronald Koeman his job and Everton’s failure to replace Koeman is costing them dearly. Caretaker boss David Unsworth, briefly a Hammer whose family couldn’t settle in that London and who seems to have eaten too many of his homesick wife’s pies, is experiencing a torrid time in his fifteen minutes of managerial fame. Tonight could well be his last hurrah and it is up to West Ham to take the initiative and expoit the turmoil that exists at his club. Who dares wins!

The return of David Moyes to Goodison Park adds a further ingredient to the contest. Moyes built a solid reputation while at Everton only for his stock to be devalued significantly since his departure. His new charges showed fleeting moments of recovery in last Friday’s home game against Leicester and he will be hoping that the improvement can be continued at his former home tonight.

Head to Head

No doubt that Everton are something of an historic bogey team. The Toffees have won exactly half of the one hundred and thirty six games played, to West Ham’s uninspiring thirty-one. Of the last twelve West Ham have won only once; the late, late comeback show two seasons ago.

Goodison Park (along with the majority of north-western venues) has never been a happy hunting ground with the Hammers winning just eleven and drawing twelve of sixty-four. Prior to 2015/16 the most recent win was in December 2005.

Team News

I would expect Moyes to start with a similar eleven that took to the field last Friday meaning another chance for Andy Carroll to prove that he can earn his keep. He wil need to up his game considerably.

Everton were appalling at Southampton. They were disorganised at the back, ponderous in midfield and lightweight up front and may well be tempted to give Rooney a start given that he likes a goal against West Ham.

The Man in The Middle

Tonight’s referee is Michael Oliver from Northumberland. Oliver took charge of the home defeat by Tottenham earlier in the season, as well as two West Ham games last season: cup defeat by Manchester City and the drawn league game with West Bromwich Albion. In fourteen outings this season he has flourished fifty eight yellow cards and two red ones.

Predictions

Merson is going for a 2-0 Everton victory while Lawro sees the Hammers winning 1-0.  For me, all the omens are good and in a rare display of optimism I am looking forward to West Ham returning to London with all three points from a comfortable 2-0 win.

It was a privilege to be at the London Stadium last Friday evening. Not for the quality of the football, although it was a small improvement on what we have previously seen this season. No, the reason was the energy and commitment of the players, which in turn led to the fans giving a demonstration of what backing a team is all about. The volume of support was right up there with what we heard in the games against Chelsea (EFL Cup) and Tottenham last season. The difference this time was that we weren’t actually winning the game. In some ways it was reminiscent of the infamous FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest over a quarter of a century ago when Keith Hackett totally ruined a game of football, but the fans continued to support the team until the end. The only disappointment was that we couldn’t get a winning goal, but nevertheless the fans received plaudits from players, pundits and the media generally for the voluminous and continuous support.

Now, can we please put an end to the stadium excuses and comments regarding lack of atmosphere? If the players demonstrate their commitment, then the fans will show theirs. Those of us who have been supporters for many years will accept losing games. What we won’t accept is heads going down when a goal is conceded, or lack of effort. As David Moyes has said, full commitment for 90 minutes should be the absolute minimum that players should give to a game. Too often in recent times that hasn’t been the case. It is still early days, and there is a long way to go, but I have to say that I have been very impressed with the start that our new manager and coaching staff have made. There was some ridiculous criticism of an appointment of a manger who, arguably, has been more successful (certainly in terms of league positions attained) than any other manager in our history. The players have been given a justifiable kick up the backside, so let us hope that the increased enthusiasm leads to some positive results, especially in view of the tough fixture list coming up.

The game against the Toffees is one where both teams are considered to be in crisis, perhaps Everton even more surprisingly than ourselves. They were widely tipped to finish seventh in the Premier League and perhaps be challenging the dominance of the elite six. Quite clearly that hasn’t happened, Koeman was sacked around a month ago, and surprisingly they have left a caretaker (Unsworth) in charge. If anything their season has nosedived still further in the last month, and Moyes has said we are going into the game full of confidence. I have some reservations, partly because of our past record against teams who are in poor form, where somehow they seem to relish our visit which enables them to turn their form around. Beware a wounded toffeeman, he can be a dangerous beast!

Wayne Rooney in particular has had a miserable return to his home town club, and a miserable few months off the pitch too. He has been left on the bench for the past couple of games, but somehow I can see him being picked for our visit and we all know what an impressive record he has when playing against us. But at least we haven’t got Lukaku to deal with this time!

Everton actually began the season well with a 1-0 win against Stoke in the opener, followed by an even more impressive draw at Manchester City in their next match. They still remain the only team (with 13 games of the season gone) to have denied City a three point haul in a game. Of course City are our next opponents at the weekend, and if recent history is anything to go by then many will be dusting down their abacuses in readiness for our visit to the Etihad, but perhaps it is our time to turn the tables on a team in superb form?
After the four points from their opening two games, Everton have only won twice more, 2-1 against Bournemouth, and an extremely fortuitous 3-2 victory over Watford (from 2-0 down). If you believe in sequences, then Everton seem to win a game, then fail to win in the next four. They won their first, sixth, and eleventh game of the season, so they are not due a victory until the sixteenth (this is game 14). But we are a good bet to help other teams break a sequence aren’t we?

Once more our game is being televised, so I’ll settle down with my Everton mints and hope that we can get at them as soon as the Z-Cars theme is over. An early goal from us would hopefully get the home crowd on the backs of their players. The Merseyside natives are getting restless with the performances of their team in recent games, so let us hope they don’t choose to up their game for this one, as they have frequently done in the past few seasons against us. At the time of writing this article they still haven’t appointed a permanent manager, but our old friend Big Sam is widely tipped to be taking over the reins there. Their search is now even more urgent after their poor performance in a 4-1 defeat at Southampton at the weekend.

As with all West Ham games this is a difficult one to call, and despite their indifferent form, the bookmakers still have Everton as firm favourites to win the match. Historically they have a far superior record in games against us with 68 wins in 136 matches, and we have only beaten them once in the league (either home or away) in the last ten years (3-2 at Goodison in 2016, after coming back from two down). Perhaps it is now our turn to break our sequence of poor results against them?

Leicester City, the most unlikely 5000-1 winners of the Premier League just over a season ago are the next visitors to the London Stadium in the first game of the weekend on Friday night. This is their fourth consecutive season in the top flight and their 50^th in their history, compared to our 60. They returned after a period of ten years out in 2014-15, and struggled throughout that season. With 29 games played they had amassed just 19 points and were seven points adrift of safety. They looked odds-on to return to the Championship, but with Nigel Pearson at the helm they won seven of their last nine games to finish on a respectable 41 points in 14^th position, just two places below us. Early in that season we had beaten them 2-0 at Upton Park with goals from Carroll and Downing, but we were the losers in the return, which was one of their seven wins in the run-in, going down 2-1 with Kouyate scoring our goal.

The following season was the stuff of fairy tales and has been written about at length. Suffice to say we will probably have to wait another 5000 years for a repeat. Pearson had been sacked and Ranieri took over to mastermind one of the most astonishing stories in the history of football. They beat us 2-1 at Upton Park in our first home game of the final season there (a Frenchman scored our goal), but we were unlucky in the return at their place near the end of the season, when leading 2-1 in the 95^th minute we failed to retain possession of the ball (just for a change!!) and then Carroll conceded what to most observers was a dubious penalty decision, and we ended with a draw. Carroll and Cresswell were our scorers that day.

Last season (2016-17) they came back down to earth and eventually finished in 12^th place (we finished 11^th). Ranieri was sacked in February after five consecutive defeats, and replaced by Shakespeare, who began his tenure with five straight wins, although four of them were home games, and Hull, Stoke, Sunderland and ourselves were not the most demanding of opponents. They did the double over us winning 1-0 at their place, and 3-2 at the London Stadium, where goals from Lanzini and Ayew were not enough to complete an unlikely comeback in a 3-2 defeat. They did perform exceptionally well in the Champions League, before just going out at the quarter-final stage to Atletico Madrid.

This season, after a poor start winning just one of their first eight games, the Bard himself was sacked and they now have Claude Puel in charge. They have since picked up a creditable 7 points from their last four games and now sit 12^th in the table on 13 points, winning 3, drawing 4 and losing 5 of their 12 games. This puts them out of our reach even if we can manage a victory in this game, but we desperately need to win the match to ensure that we don’t fall further behind in the relegation scrap at the foot of the table. Their away record comprises a win at Swansea, draws at Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Stoke, and defeats at Arsenal and Manchester United.

So many of our players had poor games at Watford that it hard to second guess the team that Moyes will select to try to achieve what would be an important win. One player who did do himself justice was Masuaku who had a fine 20 minute cameo, and I would like to see him selected in a more advanced role than full back. He showed an ability to take on and beat opponents as well as putting in decent crosses. I’d like to see Sakho and possibly Martinez start up front to give us greater mobility in that position, which would mean no place for Carroll who can be a potential liability. Lanzini needs to have a central role to be effective, not stuck out on the left. I hope that Rice enters the manager’s plans, perhaps filling a defensive midfield role protecting the defence, possibly alongside Obiang who has not been at his best recently, but in my view would be preferable to Noble and Kouyate.

When I looked at the bookmakers’ odds for the game, both Leicester and ourselves are currently priced at around 17/10 to win the game, with 23/10 on the draw. Surely we can’t play as badly again as we did at Watford where we were totally outclassed, yet could have possibly scored four goals from clear-cut chances. I would like to think that Hernandez would have made much more of the goalscoring opportunities that fell to Kouyate (twice), Arnautavic and Lanzini, although Gomes did pull off one tremendous double save.

The statistics from the Watford game apparently show that collectively, West Ham players covered more ground than in any other league game this season. But that alone is quite clearly not the answer, and Moyes and his coaching team will have had to work hard this week to try to ensure an improved performance for this game. The atmosphere has been described as “toxic” around the club, and I hate to imagine the reaction if we concede the first goal in the game. Scoring first would give everyone a lift, and that is what we must hope for.

Right now it is difficult to see how things could get any worse at West Ham but tonight we have another opportunity to find out if it is possible.  If everything we read is to be believed supporters, players, management, in-the-know bloggers and probably even Doris the tea lady are verbally slugging it out with each other and amongst themselves.  Have the Hammers reached their darkest hour or will there be the faintest glimmer of light to sustain us over the weekend.  Unity has been called for but appears a distant, forlorn hope at the moment and it won’t need much more than a slow, nervy start for the Friday night London Stadium atmosphere to descend to an all too familiar toxicity.

Towards the end of the 2014/15 season, West Ham visited the King Power stadium with Leicester languishing at the foot of the table and looking odds-on for relegation.  The Foxes famously won, their first victory in nine, and went on to record seven more wins in their last nine games to preserve their Premier League status.  The following season they were Champions.  Can history repeat itself but in reverse?  Yes, I was only joking ……… but taking something from the game, if not quite essential for survival, would be a major lift before that dreadful run of fixtures in December.

Leicester were never going to repeat their heroics of the 2015/16 season as most teams, with the exception of West Ham, got wise to the primary tactic of the ball over the top for Vardy to chase.  They did well to keep the majority of that squad together (despite losing the influential Kante and later Drinkwater) but what appeared to be a productive transfer window last summer has yet to bear fruit as they hover around mid-table (but only four points better than ourselves).  It is a surprise that they have already changed managers twice since their dream season and also that they saw enough quality in Claude Puel to bring him in as Shakespeare’s replacement.  Puel’s previous Southampton side did, of course, stroll to a 3-0 victory at the London Stadium in September last year.

Head to Head

West Ham’s record against Leicester goes back to 1919 and stands evenly balanced with the Hammers having won fifty-one, lost forty-eight with thirty drawn games.  In the last twelve encounters West Ham have won four and lost five.

Leicester are looking for a hat-trick of straight wins against the Hammers in London despite West Ham having won eight of the last twelve home clashes.

Team News

It appears that Marko Arnautovic has miraculously recovered from the near death sore thumb trauma and is available for selection along with Andre Ayew who has shaken off his illness.  According to reports Michail Antonio, Javier Hernandez, James Collins and Sam Byram are all still out.

Changes are certainly required from the team that failed to impress at Watford; not just because almost every player was hopeless but also because the team was so unbalanced.

I would like to see Arthur Masuaku start but in a midfield role as he and Aaron Cresswell would prove a handful on the left hand side.  Maybe give Arnautovic another run out on the right with Manuel Lanzini moving to an attacking central midfield role where he is best suited and can cause more damage.  That would leave a choice of two out of Noble/ Obiang and Kouyate in the centre of midfield.  In the striker role I would like to see Diafra Sakho start in preference to Andy Carroll and would also prefer to see Adrian between the sticks.  Defensive options look to be limited (I am assuming that Moyes will stick with a back four) and it is unlikely that he will be brave enough to give a start to Declan Rice – I am not convinced that Rice is the answer to the midfield frailties.

Leicester have no injury concerns other than the continued absence of the Neanderthal Robert Huth.  The main threats will continue to come from the Vardy/  Mahrez combination but hopefully we will at last have woken up to the ball over the top of the defence tactic.  The other concern is a reckless Ogbonna tackle on Vardy in the area to concede a needless penalty.

Man in the Middle

Today sees Martin Atkinson of West Yorkshire take charge of his third West Ham game of the season having previously officiated in defeats away at Manchester United and at home to Brighton.  Will he finally get to award a West Ham goal?  In eight games this season he has shown nineteen yellows and one red cards.

Predictions

Lawro from the BBC sees this as a 1-1 draw while Sky’s Merson predicts a sound 1-3 away win.  It will be interesting to see how West Ham approach this game.  They badly need something from it and cannot afford a slow and ponderous backwards-sideways start if they want to keep the crowd on side. Will they have finally learned how to stop Vardy exploiting space behind the central defenders?  Can they keep the ball long enough to put any sustained pressure on the Leicester defence?

Moyes will not want to lose but cannot afford to set up not to lose as he did at Watford.  Puel seems to be from the same unadventurous school of football management.  It could be a cagey game but as always a goal can change everything.  It has the look of low scoring draw about it to me.