Nuno Espirito Santo knows that the battle for Premier League survival – with West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest in the mix – could go down to the final matchday.
Technically, the Hammers could relegate London rivals Spurs before they even take to the field against Leeds on May 24th.
Permutations aside, Nuno Espirito Santo is readying his West Ham United players for a fight until the very last whistle.
How will the Premier League table look when it’s all said and done? 🤔
West Ham are in a precarious position with 4 games to go! 😬
Two divisions lower and 250 miles north west, Blackpool can look forward to the luxury of a final day free of drama.
Thanks largely to the goalscoring exploits of one-time Upton Park prospect Ashley Fletcher, League One football will be returning to Bloomfield Road in 2026/27.
Ashley Fletcher fires Blackpool to survival as West Ham United battle against the drop
Manchester United academy graduate Fletcher hit 20 goals for the first time in his journeyman career this season.
OK, he failed to add to a career-best tally of 21 during a run of five wins in six matches which officially secured Blackpool’s status in the third-tier, but manager Ian Evatt accepts that relegation would have been an inevitability without his exploits in the final third.
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“I have to give huge credit to Fletch, who has scored 21 goals in really difficult circumstances with where we were and how we were performing,” Evatt told the Blackpool Gazette after a 1-0 victory over Leyton Orient which leaves last season’s beaten play-off finalists wobbling on the edge of relegation heading into the final day.
“He’s carried the team a lot with his goals.”
Blackpool were stuck in 20th as recently as April 10th. Now, they are breathing in rarified air in vertigo-inducing heights of 14th; eight places above the drop zone.
Hammers aiming for 43 points to ward off Tottenham Hotspur
Of course, West Ham could still finish above Newcastle United and Crystal Palace, should they win three of their final four matches starting with Brentford away on Saturday.
The feeling at the London Stadium is that, a quarter of a century after even the brilliance of Paolo di Canio, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe failed to save their skin, West Ham may need up to 43 points to absolutely guarantee survival.
Forty-three points, of course, is one more than the infamous ‘too good to go down’ side of 2002/03 managed.
Where will West Ham v Brentford be WON and LOST?
Some key battles all over the pitch… ⚒️ 🆚 🐝
“It was a must-win [against Everton] and to do it in the last minute was brilliant but nerve-wracking, especially with Spurs scoring late at Wolves,” the top senior spokesman for West Ham’s owners exclusively told Hammers News after Callum Wilson’s stoppage-time winner last weekend.
“But we hope Aston Villa are not distracted by Europe [a semi-final Europa League tie with Nottingham Forest sandwiches that Tottenham clash].
“One club might need a record number of points to stay up.”
Ashley Fletcher failed to score in 20 West Ham appearances before his £6 million move to Middlesbrough in 2017. The late-blooming, now-30-year-old frontman endured largely underwhelming spells at Sunderland, Watford, New York Red Bulls, Sheffield Wednesday and Wigan Athletic before rocking up at Blackpool two years ago.
With 32 goals in two seasons, Fletcher has brought the sun back to the Blackpool beach.