Well, for now at least; On 28th December when we host the Gunners we’ll really find out.
As it stands today, Andy Carroll’s brace to help sink Swansea at the Boleyn Ground means that West Ham sits proudly in third place of the Premier League table. As East London rejoices, over in North London Arsenal find themselves looking up to no less than five teams who have amassed larger tallies, with two of them having a game in hand (Manchester United and Southampton).
The question is, can the Irons stave off the inevitable Arsenal charge that earns the Gunners them a Champions League spot year in, year out under ‘Professor’ Wenger. Bookies are currently saying no – with Arsenal on offer at 4/6 and West Ham at 25/1 for a top 4 finish. And then of course there are the other teams all currently lurking around the 21-25 points zone to think about. Let’s take a look at what’s coming up between now and early new year.
Next stop is Sunderland on Saturday and the Black Cats are proving to be no easy beats under Gus Poyet, having held Liverpool and Chelsea to 0-0 draws over the last few weeks, albeit with a heavy defeat to Man City in between. However, they don’t tend to win many games (only two all season, the last being on November 3rd against Crystal Palace). Although there are no certainties, the likelihood is that this game is going be a West Ham win or a draw, so there should be points to add to the current 27.
On the 20th it’s bottom team Leicester City visiting the Boleyn and this is the time to show absolute ruthlessness. Foxes boss Nigel Pearson is under immense pressure at the moment, and they have had a shocking run that makes them current favourites with football betting companies for relegation. Three points to the Hammers here, surely. Meanwhile, Arsenal have got to deal with a Champions League away game to Galatasaray as well as tough encounters with Newcastle (Emirates) and Liverpool (Anfield). With some good performances from those teams, we could see the gap widen to 7 or 8 points or possibly even 10. Now that would make things interesting.
After that things get tougher for the Irons, with a trip to Stamford Bridge which lets face it is pretty unlikely to increase the points tally. And then on Sunday 28th December it’s the big
one – At home to Arsenal. Whatever happens between now and then this is a six pointer and it will have a massive influence on the final Premier League table positions. Keep your fingers crossed.
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