OPINION
It’s Thursday evening, and West Ham fans will have no doubt spent the five days desperately trying to put any lingering memories of Saturday’s dire display against Everton out of their head.
After all, their team stumbled and spluttered their way to a wholly underwhelming 2-0 defeat on Merseyside, and saw themselves slip to 11th in the table as a result.
To lose is bad, but to lose in such a tepid manner is another matter entirely. The Hammers had eight efforts to the Toffees’ 19, and just two corners compared to their hosts’ 11, as per the BBC.
As such, this Saturday’s clash against Sheffield United has taken on a whole new significance.
With two losses on the bounce, and with the Blades two places ahead of them in the table after a stunning win over Arsenal on Monday night, another defeat would be a real kick in the teeth.
And that’s the view of Sky Sports pundit Matt Le Tissier too.
Making his predictions ahead of this Saturday’s match, he said: “Sheffield United played superbly against Arsenal, and it will not be easy for West Ham, who need to bounce back after their disappointing defeat at Everton – I think they will just do that and come away with a hard-fought win.”
Le Tissier predicts a 1-0 win.
The Hammers had better hope that the ex-Southampton is right, because if not, there will be serious questions asked about how far this side has actually come.
Sides aiming for Europe don’t capitulate so early in the season, and unless they can pick up a win and turn things around quickly, there will be growing fears over teh prospect of another season in the doldrums.
