WHZ View: Can West Ham defy the odds and qualify for Europe?
West Ham could be as low as ninth in the Premier League by the time they face Leeds on Monday evening at the London Stadium.
Tottenham and Liverpool both play on Sunday, so have the opportunity to leapfrog David Moyes’ side and gain momentum in the race for Europe. Everton and Chelsea both went above us in the week, with narrow wins over West Brom and the champions.
Despite being fourth in the table at the end of our last match, we could stand to fall five places in the rankings without kicking a ball. We’re still very much in contention for Europe, though, as one of the in-form teams in the topflight.
Moyes certainly wants to keep pushing on, it seems. Speaking to the club website this week, he said: “I have to say we’re big outsiders for the Champions League – there are lots of teams in there.
“There’s always a first for everything. We’ve been making a few firsts this year and I’m hoping that we’re able to do everything we can and challenge the top teams.”
It’s been a remarkable season for the Hammers under Moyes. In 15 months the boss has turned us into European contenders, a far cry from our relegation battles for years prior. With just 12 matches left of the season, can we actually qualify for Europe at the end of the season?
It’s in our hands
As mentioned, we’re actually one of the in-form teams in the league for 2021. Only City have taken more points than us since the turn of the year, as we’ve amassed 23 points from a possible 30.
Our starting XI at the moment is the best in recent memory. Lingard, Coufal and Soucek have come in with an elite, winning mentality. All of them are used to winning silverware and won’t settle for a mediocre season in mid-table.
Added with the youth and hungry of Rice and Bowen, as well as the work rate of Antonio and Fornals, we can beat anyone on our day as we’ve proved this season.
The most exciting part of the run-in is that despite having tough fixtures, we play all of the teams that are able to go above us. We have an excellent record at home this season, and still have to welcome Chelsea and Everton, who are above us.
After the initial teething problems, the new ground is turning into a bit of a fortress. This season we’ve lost at home just twice. We’ve improved astonishingly since the woeful opening day display to Newcastle, the only other side to win on our turf was Liverpool.
The Chelsea and Everton games will be huge. Not only can we stop them picking up points, but we can gain on them. We have every reason to be confident in these matches. We have defeated Everton already this season and can take confidence from the way we beat Chelsea in the 2019/20 campaign.
Although we don’t face Liverpool or Spurs again, they won’t go above us having played the same amount of games unless we drop points. After Leeds, United are up next. The Red Devils have hit a rough patch, with just one win in their last five matches. They haven’t been losing games, though, drawing four.
It’ll be interesting to see how they perform against Manchester City on Sunday. We gave a good account of ourselves at the Etihad, which is a reason in itself to be confident of Europe.
The Champions League spaces may be a bit out of our reach, despite being fourth last week. But there is every opportunity that we can finish in the top six. One way or another, European football for West Ham would be a massive achievement and is absolutely something we’re good enough to get this year.
In other West Ham news, here are three things to look out for as we clash with Leeds on Monday evening.