West Ham must beat Fulham tonight
Despite being 12th in the Premier League table, West Ham are in danger of being sucked into the relegation battle. After the game against Chelsea on December 1st, no one would have listened to you if you said that West Ham would be 7 points away from the relegation zone in 8 games time.
That is the reality for the Irons though and with rumours that key midfielder Mo Diame could be leaving the club before the transfer window shuts tomorrow, it could be a difficult few months for West Ham United.
The East London club have only one game in the last ten, but it is their away form that should worry West Ham fans, as well as the negative tactics used by Sam Allardyce. Their team hasn’t won an away match in seven attempts, luckily their home form has saved them from dropping further down the table, as well as the teams below them not picking up points.
With Newcastle looking like they could climb out of the bottom 6, teams like Norwich, West Ham and Fulham could be dragged down the table. That is exactly why West Ham need to beat Fulham tonight.
A win for West Ham could move them into the top 10 if results go their way, but a defeat could lead to them dropping down into the bottom 6 if the teams around them pick up wins. Fulham are also a team on the slide, but like West Ham, the teams around them not winning games has saved them from falling into the danger zone.
Tonight’s game could see the return of Andy Carroll to the West Ham lineup, but Carlton Cole has done enough to keep his place in the team, for this game at least. However, Marouane Chamakh will want to play tonight as he was ineligible to face Arsenal last week.
Fulham boss Martin Jol has an almost full squad of players to choose from, including new signing Emmanuel Frimpong. Top scorer Dimitar Berbatov will have to be on top form as the rest of the team seem to rely on the Bulgarian too much.
Unless both teams have really bad runs of form over the next month or so, they probably won’t be dragged deep into relegation danger, but with that said, if the teams below them have good runs of form, both the Cottagers and the Irons might find themselves sliding down the table.
Thomas Baxter
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