Paul Merson predicts West Ham United vs Nottingham Forest result amid Lucas Paqueta and Edson Alvarez return for ‘weird’ Hammers
Paul Merson has backed West Ham to break out of their “weird” run of bad form with a much-needed win over Nottingham Forest this weekend.
The Sky Sports pundit said in his Sportskeeda column on 9 November that Steve Cooper’s side represent a “good fixture for them to get their campaign back on track”, having been confused by the drop off in performances the Hammers have shown since their strong start to the season.
Merson has predicted a comfortable 2-0 victory at the London Stadium on Sunday (12 November), with the return of Lucas Paqueta and Edson Alvarez, who both missed the 3-2 defeat at Brentford last week, as potentially key for the hosts to “cruise” to three points.
Merson said: “West Ham United, at the moment, are on a bad run. That’s quite weird given how formidable they were looking a few weeks ago. They’ve lost four of their last five matches in all competitions. But I’m going to go with the Hammers here despite their recent slump.
“They haven’t been able to snap out of the habit of losing games of late. But this one against Forest is a good fixture for them to get their campaign back on track. I still think the Hammers are playing well enough to win against Steve Cooper’s side.
“With Lucas Paqueta and Edson Alvarez returning to the mix, they should be able to cruise to a comfortable win here.”
Rebound
If David Moyes can’t get a Premier League victory soon then whatever alarm bells that might have started sounding will become a hell of a lot louder.
Despite Merson’s confidence that it should be a straightforward ask at the weekend it is unlikely to be anything like a walk in the park.
Cooper’s men are somehow just a point and a place behind the Irons despite the fact that they have only been beaten twice since the start of September, away at powerhouses Manchester City and Liverpool.
They draw too often but a 2-0 home victory against high-flying Aston Villa last weekend could have Moyes worried as they visit the London Stadium, especially in light of his own side’s comprehensive defeat against Unai Emery’s team.
If Paqueta and Alvarez are back in it would certainly boost the West Ham cause but, despite some decent results in the past couple of months from cup competitions, the whole side need to up their game in the top flight.
Uncertainty is starting to creep in again around the manager’s future, not least with a Tim Steidten-led January transfer window on the horizon, and Moyes is going to need to start building some confidence again to head it off.
In other West Ham news, an update on two of the ownership’s managerial “favourites” has emerged as questions build around Moyes’ job.