Paul Merson predicts vital West Ham United result vs goal-shy Wolves amid ‘severe pressure’
Paul Merson predicts West Ham will get a vital win over Wolves on the return from the international break at the weekend but they must score the first goal.
Disjointed performances, misfiring stars, and a lack of output from new signings, via a combination of taking time to adapt to the Premier League and being underused by David Moyes, has all left fans “worried”, but Merson expects the Irons to be alright this year and to take a 2-0 win on Saturday (1 October).
Wolves are one of the few sides struggling as much as the Hammers are, with both only winning a single game so far this season, but the Sky Sports pundit has backed them to get the job done behind last-season’s blue print of using Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio on the counterattack.
In his Sportskeeda predictions column Merson said: “West Ham fans are a bit worried about their team at the moment, but I think they’ll be all right.
“For the unbelievable Premier League campaign they had last season, it’ll be a complete reversal if they don’t win this game. They set the bar so high last year that they’ve now put severe pressure on themselves.
“West Ham’s big names haven’t hit the levels they achieved last season. They aren’t a free-scoring side, and they’ll need to find a way to score the first goal.
“When they do, they’re solid at the back and force the other team to chase the game. They’ve got Antonio and Bowen on the counter, and they’ll need to go back to that blueprint.
“Wolves are a good team but they don’t score enough goals for my liking. West Ham are not a million miles away at the moment, and I think they’re going to get back on the horse this week.”
Rise again
Severe pressure is right because the heights that Moyes took the side to last year were expected to be just the beginning, but instead the manager’s job is being discussed.
The strengthening that was required looked to have been successfully completed through the summer for the most part, but the squad has yet to gel subsequently.
At the same time the established stars are largely undercooked and with every passing game they are losing more ground on where they were supposed to be this year.
Bad luck at Chelsea on 3 September robbed the Hammers of some much needed momentum and it showed at Goodison Park badly, as the Toffees recorded their first win of the season (18 September).
Considering how flat everything felt at the time, the disruption of the international break may have been the best thing to reset the squad mentally.
Merson has certainly gone for an optimistic outlook, but if this side can get back to what made them so effective last year as a base it should give the new arrivals a platform to integrate into.
Whoever starts scoring is going to have a major head-start in this one with both sides recording only three goals each so far, but with the visitors forced to turn to free-transfer Diego Costa who hasn’t played in almost a year, compared to the West Ham options that include Antonio, Bowen, Gianluca Scamacca, Said Benrahma, Maxwel Cornet, Lucas Paqueta and Manuel Lanzini it is clear who really should have the greater capability.