West Ham’s indifferent recent form continued as they slumped to a 2-0 loss in front of a 62,459 strong crowd at the London Stadium to Fulham. Here are our post match talking points.
Fulham do the double over West Ham for the first time since 1965/66!
It’s quite a remarkable stat- this was the first time Fulham had done the league double over the Hammers since 1965/66. There was an opportunity for West Ham to leapfrog Manchester United in the league standings following the latter’s 2-2 draw against Bournemouth, but David Moyes’ side looked bereft of energy after an encouraging start (there was a shocking Antonio miss early in the fixture), and went down 2-0 to the Cottagers.
Was it right to sell the likes of Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma in the winter transfer window? The Hammers could’ve certainly done with the services of those two- the first choice XI have been played into the ground and looked gassed here- they managed only 3 shots in the second half (compared to 12 in the first half). Also look at Fulham’s bench for the clash- it was superior to what the Hammers put out.
Mistakes cost West Ham dear
West Ham’s defenders will not want to look at both Fulham goals again. The first one saw a mistake from Mavropanos, and the second saw some really lazy tracking back from the likes of Ben Johnson as he failed to keep pace with Andreas Pereira. Those are the kind of errors one can ill-afford while attempting to qualify for European football.
Chelsea could leapfrog the Hammers!
It might have seemed improbable a few months ago, but Chelsea are right in the mix for European footy currently and with Cole Palmer scoring for fun, one wouldn’t bet against them leapfrogging both West Ham and Manchester United in the league table come May.
Is Leverkusen Mission Impossible Already?
With the likes of Paqueta and Emerson suspended and the rest of the team in the condition that it is currently, it’s hard to see how West Ham can overturn a 2-0 deficit against Bayer Leverkusen, who were crowned Bundesliga champions on Sunday after thrashing Werder Bremen 5-0. And no team has got the better of Leverkusen so far- not in the German League nor in the Cups/Europa League!
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