Joe Cole feels West Ham United’s hopes of Premier League survival may ride or die on just one of their remaining seven top-flight fixtures.
Beat rock-bottom Wolves at the London Stadium on the first league game back after the international break and FA Cup, and the Hammers will be out of the drop zone by the time Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest and Leeds even kick off.
There are currently only four points separating West Ham United from Leeds in 15th.
Is this the WORST prediction of the season? 😂
Rob Earnshaw predicts West Ham to get just 3 more points…
Nuno’s side have picked up a staggering 12 more than Tottenham since beating their arch rivals away from home on January 17th.
Joe Cole cannot shake the feeling that, if they extend that tally to 15 with a home win against Wolverhampton Wanderers – shoving Spurs into the bottom three as a result – this would have a massive psychological impact on the mindset of both sides
Beat Wolves and West Ham United will stay in the Premier League, Joe Cole thinks
“So, it’s the international break. Then it’s the FA Cup, then Wolves at home,” Cole says on The Dressing Room podcast. “That, for me, is West Ham’s season.
“Sometimes, they are the hardest games to win. When you’re in a relegation fight, you go into games and sometimes it’s easier. But when the onus is on you…
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“The fans go to the stadium, West Ham fans are like, ‘We have to win this game’. So, it’s a different challenge for the lads. But that, for me, is the game.
“If West Ham win that game, I think they stay up. That’s how important it is. Momentum in football, everyone expects them to win it. The players know they have to win it. If they win, it lifts the whole place up.
“But if you don’t win it…”
Where would West Ham be right NOW if we hadn’t sacked Graham Potter? 🤔
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The Hammers can leapfrog Tottenham while Leeds face Manchester United
Igor Tudor is already under near-intolerable levels of pressure at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The interim boss was subjected to another fierce round of boos after Spurs slipped to a humiliating 3-0 home defeat by relegation rivals Nottingham Forest; their last Premier League outing for two weeks.
Next up is a trip to a Sunderland side with a fine home record, further buoyed by their derby victory over Newcastle. Leeds face Manchester United at Old Trafford, while Nottingham Forest host Champions League-chasing Aston Villa.
West Ham not only have the advantage of going first on matchday 32, then, they also have comfortably the easiest game on paper.
“You’re right [about] that,” Carlton Cole says in response to his namesake Joe. “And I think Nuno would have addressed that [after the Aston Villa defeat]. After the game, he would have said, ‘Listen, our next game at home is against Wolves, my old club’.
“Nuno, he can sink two ships here in one swift move! Wolves are already sunk. They’re gone. So he’s put that to bed.
“But Nottingham Forest? They did him dirty [sacking Nuno in August]. Spurs? They did him dirty. So those are the two clubs he’s thinking, ‘Relegation fodder! I’m putting you lot down. I’m sinking this ship!’.”