Sakho is expected to feature on Wednesday
West Ham are breaking a lot of their own records this season. Our points total is there to be beat, and we could match our best ever Premier League finish of fifth if we carry on the way we are.
Currently, we are on a 13 match unbeaten streak at The Boleyn Ground. This stretches back to September 22nd when Bournemouth, inspired by Callum Wilson, scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 victory for the cherries. This is one of only two Premier League home matches we have lost all season.
The only other defeat at Upton Park was against table toppers Leicester, where it finished 1-2 and Adrian got sent off after coming forward for a corner.
The Boleyn Ground has become something of a fortress since then. 8 wins and 5 draws in all competitions is a complete change in fortunes from what we have come to expect in recent seasons. We haven’t always been difficult to beat at home, especially last season. Bilic has sorted it out since the first two home games of the season, and now teams won’t feel so confident coming to The Boleyn Ground.
Another stat that defines our season is that when we lose, it is very scarcely a walk over for the opposition. Even if we don’t play well, we aren’t getting routinely turned over.
In 32 matches, we have been beaten by more than one goal twice. In the 2-0 defeat at Watford and in the 4-1 defeat to Tottenham. Our other losses have been by one goal only. This says a lot about this team. We don’t get beaten easily, we fight until the end and we deserve to be in the position we are in. We aren’t stealing wins one week and getting annihilated the next, we are consistently performing. West Ham fans haven’t seen a consistent team for a while, whilst not consistently spectacular, consider the Sunderland result. We managed to grind out a victory, despite not playing anywhere near the level we have come to expect.
Teams are having to really perform to earn victories against us, Bilic has made us tough to beat.
We have Spurs on Wednesday, and they are desperate to do the double over us as they push for the Premier League title. We weren’t good in the 4-1 defeat at White Hart Lane, but it flattered them. They had a couple of fortunate goals that coincided with an off day for pretty much everyone excluding Manuel Lanzini. The game featured more individual errors than there has been in most of our season.
We have a real chance on Wednesday, the players will be hungry for revenge after that painful defeat and Noble in particular will be explaining to the newer players what this match means to the club. Our last match against Tottenham at The Boleyn Ground, it’s one of the biggest of the season.
Avoiding defeat against Spurs would make us 14 unbeaten at home, and would be a real statement of intent against the form side in the Premier League at the moment. Bilic has said he will play for the win, and there is no evidence suggesting otherwise.
Tottenham won’t need to see these stats; they will already know this won’t be a routine three points.
