‘Typical’ – Charlie Nicholas issues prediction for West Ham clash v ‘irrelevant’ Man City
Charlie Nicholas has predicted that West Ham will suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of Manchester City this weekend.
The Hammers go into Sunday’s game in the bottom three, and haven’t won a league match since New Year’s Day – David Moyes’ first fixture back at the club.
For their part, City are currently second in the table, but trail Liverpool by a mammoth 22 points.
Nicholas can only see things going one way when the two sides meet at the Etihad though.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “Manchester City are irrelevant in the context of the title race. When I look at Pep Guardiola’s side, I see a genius in pain.
“He is not getting the criticism that many other coaches would be getting, because he is Pep.
“It is so typical of West Ham at the moment that they occasionally turn up, put in a performance for 25 minutes, but if they lose a goal then it is game over.
“It is not a happy time but David Moyes will have to dig in.”
The pundit predicts a 4-0 defeat for the Irons.
How bad could things get at West Ham?
There’s no point trying to beat around the bush here – West Ham are in trouble.
The fact that they have only five points from six Premier League matches since Moyes returned is bad enough, but their upcoming run of fixtures could genuinely be enough to derail their season entirely.
City on Sunday is just the start of a dreadful run that includes Liverpool, Southampton, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolves, and Chelsea.
Without being defeatist or unduly miserable, it’s not inconceivable that the Irons could come out the back of their next seven games with zero points.
Even after that Newcastle United and Burnley won’t exactly be cakewalks.
With that in mind, it’s very likely that the Irons could go 10 games without a win for the second time this – especially bearing in mind that they are already five games into a slump of that ilk.
It’s sad, but going 10 games winless twice in one season is relegation form, pure and simple.
In other West Ham news, ‘Flying’ – Darren Bent heaps praise on senior Irons men after ‘positive’ January reveal.