West Ham’s first game after a two week break sees Manuel Pellegrini’s men lock horns against Fulham at the London Stadium on Friday night. The Hammers are winless since beating Arsenal at home in mid January, and have lost five in a row in the league under the referee for this game, Lee Mason.

This will be Fulham’s first Premier League game to be played on Friday in more than a decade- the last was a 0-0 draw against Spurs back in 2008. The Cottagers are also winless in their last nine away games against West Ham.

Will the Hammers able to complete a league double over Claudio Ranieri’s men? Let’s take a look at what the pundits are predicting for this Round 27 clash. [Read more…]

The referee for West Ham’s Game Week 27 fixture against Fulham has been announced, and it’s Lee Mason. Recent history tells us that this may not be the best appointment for the Hammers, and here are two BIG reasons for it being so.

West Ham have lost their last five games under Lee Mason

Fulham are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League games under Mason

Mason was the referee when the Hammers last lost at the London Stadium- a 2-0 reverse at the hands of Watford back in December. Manuel Pellegrini’s side had won four in a row leading into that game, but had that winning streak snapped by the Hornets. That fixture was also the last in which we saw Fabian Balbuena, who limped off in the first half. After nearly two months on the sidelines, the Paraguayan has now recovered from his knee injury, and looks likely to feature in some form (potentially off the bench) on Friday night against the Cottagers. [Read more…]