Paul Merson predicts ‘strange’ West Ham United vs Brentford result plus ‘destined’ Premier League finish
Paul Merson believes West Ham are “destined” to finish mid-table in the Premier League this season as he tipped them to draw away to Brentford this weekend.
The Sky Sports pundit called it a “strange” game to call in his Sportskeeda predictions on 2 November but thinks there is goals in it for both sides as he went for a 2-2 final scoreline.
However, after the Hammers sent Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup with a 3-1 win in midweek he expects the priority for David Moyes to be the cups this year amid an expectation of relative obscurity in the top flight.
Merson said: “This is a strange one to call as there’s not much between the two sides in terms of points, but I think it’ll be a decent games with a few goals in it. Both teams will have a goal and look at this one as a winnable game of football, so I’m going for a 2-2 draw.
“West Ham got an important win against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup and will look to stay in all the domestic cups as long as possible, as they are pretty much destined to finish mid-table in the Premier League.”
Harsh but fair?
Even a month ago that prediction for the final Premier League position would have looked harsh but after a fast start things are tailed off for Moyes.
The win over Arsenal in Declan Rice’s return to the London Stadium was undoubtedly an excellent result, but with only one top flight win in the past six outings it is starting to look like Merson might be right.
Should there be a change of manager during the season it could shift the situation significantly but at this stage form is looking shaky.
Losing 1-0 at home to Everton might not be the upset that it would have been at most points over the past two years, given Sean Dyche has the Toffees on a decent run, but it was still a very deflating response to the 4-1 thrashing at Aston Villa week earlier.
Brentford went to Stamford Bridge and won last weekend so are likely to be feeling confident ahead of Saturday’s meeting so Moyes will have to hope the midweek cup win has had the same effect on his West Ham side.
There is still plenty of time in the season to rebound but it would be a lot better sooner rather than later.
In other West Ham news, Simon Jordan has made a “surprised” prediction over possible changes to the ownership at the club.