Paul Merson predicts winner of West Ham United clash v Fulham as David Moyes sack pressure grows
Paul Merson has predicted that West Ham United will lose 2-0 in their Premier League encounter against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday (8 April).
After the 5-1 drubbing to Newcastle on Wednesday night (5 April), David Moyes’ job in the London Stadium is “more vulnerable than ever”, according to CBS journalist Ben Jacobs (6 April).
The Hammers face a Fulham side who arrive on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth and will be without star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who was given an eight-game ban for pushing referee Chris Kavanagh in their FA Cup loss to Manchester United.
Writing in his latest Sportskeeda column, Merson predicted that West Ham would succumb to yet another defeat in their fight against Premier League relegation, which currently sees them only sit outside the bottom three on goal difference.
“West Ham are struggling badly at the moment,” he said.
“I don’t think they were great in their victory against Southampton, but the result did paper over the cracks. They were out of their depth at home against Newcastle.
“Fulham are going to miss Mitrovic, but they have been pretty impressive this season. West Ham are all over the place at the moment, and I’m going to back Fulham to win this game.”
Struggling
West Ham United were simply terrible against Newcastle on Wednesday night.
Yes, you can give credit to a strong Newcastle side for dishing the punishment out at the London Stadium, however, the Hammers really didn’t help their own cause.
Defensively Moyes’ side were weak, naive and lacking any kind of organisational structure.
Although West Ham claimed a scrappy 1-0 win over Southampton last weekend, fans would have known that there was a performance like this just around the corner.
Under Moyes this season, the Irons have been an extremely inconsistent entity, winning 4-0 against Nottingham Forest one week and then delivering shambolic displays such as this Newcastle game soon after.
If the Scotsman fails to pick up a win against Fulham on Saturday, it could spell the end of his time in the West Ham United dugout.
The club can’t continue to sleepwalk towards an ever-more-likely impending relegation to the Championship, and they must ask quickly.