West Ham have been given a huge survival boost by Nottingham Forest by lighting a fire under Aston Villa ahead of their clash with Spurs.
Every game is massive as the Premier League relegation battle enters the final four games looking like a straight shootout between the Hammers and Tottenham Hotspur.
Nottingham Forest may have a bit of work to do too although Leeds essentially made sure of safety by beating Burnley on Friday night.
West Ham have survival in their hands, knowing they just have to match Tottenham’s results to stay up.
Forest do West Ham huge favour in survival battle with Spurs
In fact, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side can even afford one less result than their bitter rivals as they hold a two point advantage.
There is no hiding the fact this weekend’s games feel like they could go a long way to deciding who survives.
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West Ham are away at Brentford, who have not won for eight games, while injury-hit Tottenham Hotspur are on the road to Champions League chasing Aston Villa.
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If the Hammers beat Brentford they will widen the gap on Spurs to five points, piling even more pressure on Roberto De Zerbi’s side at Villa Park.
As exclusively revealed by Hammers News, West Ham’s owners have voiced fears Villa will be ‘distracted’ against Tottenham given it comes in the middle of their two-legged Europa League semi-final against Forest.
But West Ham have been given survival boost as Forest light a fire under Aston Villa ahead of Spurs.
Hammers News looked back at Villa’s Premier League results post Europe this season and it made for very encouraging reading for Nuno and makes the game even more daunting for De Zerbi.
Villa have won nine of their 12 league games after Europa League matches, drawing one and losing the other two.
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West Ham and Spurs were both interested spectators when Unai Emery’s side lost 1-0 to Forest in the first leg at the City Ground on Thursday night.
And things could not have worked out better for the Hammers in terms of Villa’s motivation for their clash with Tottenham.
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Winning the Europa League is rewarded with a place in the Champions League.
With Villa trailing Forest, suddenly their surest bet of making it back to Europe’s top table is through the Premier League.
Fifth place will be a Champions League spot again this season and that is great news for West Ham – but terrible for Tottenham.
Because Villa can cement Champions League football with three games to spare if they win against Spurs.
If Brighton fail to win away at Newcastle and Villa beat Tottenham on Sunday they will move on to 61 points, 11 clear of the Seagulls, thus sealing their return to the Champions League.
What better incentive, made all the more crucial given Villa’s Europa League hopes are now hanging in the balance.
Better still for West Ham – and not so much Spurs – is that the feisty nature of the defeat to Forest has lit a fire in the belly of Emery who has delivered impassioned press conferences since.
One more result in the league should see Forest safe, so inspiring Villa to beat Spurs only helps their own survival hopes too.