Premier League journalist sends warning to ‘lucky’ West Ham United as ‘bottom three’ statistic emerges
West Ham United might have got “lucky” so far in the new season, according to Premier League journalist Alex Keble.
The East London outfit currently sit seventh in the league table on 14 points, with four wins from their eight matches.
But as per the official Premier League website (17 October), the Hammers are close to the relegation zone in the Expected Goals (xG) table.
“According to the xG table, West Ham are only 2.93 points off the bottom three, despite nobody seemingly fearing for David Moyes’ side at this stage,” Keble wrote for the official Premier League website.
“West Ham have the largest xGA Delta (the gap between actual goals conceded and xG Against), at +4.56. They have won 5.41 more points than ‘expected’, so in the Expected Points table they would have the biggest position drop of anyone, at seven places.”
Riding their luck?
The statistics may point to West Ham riding their luck this season, but manager Moyes will definitely not see it that way. The boss was forced to work very hard in pre-season, particularly having lost captain and star midfielder Declan Rice.
But the Hammers recovered by signing James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez, with that duo immediately hitting the ground running at the London Stadium. The same can be said for fellow summer arrival Mohammed Kudus, with Moyes getting his recruitment spot on.
He has also got his tactics spot on more often than not, with the East London club losing just two league games this season, and they came against Premier League giants Manchester City and Liverpool.
Moreover, they picked up a hard-fought point against Newcastle United, as well as securing superb 3-1 wins against both Chelsea and Brighton. Moyes won’t worry too much about Expected Goals as long as such results continue for the London Stadium club.
In other West Ham news, Moyes must seriously consider selecting one award-winning Hammers sensation after his rapid rise in recent times.