Premier League Predictions: West Ham United
It was a season of two halves for West Ham United last term. This time around, they are going to want a little more consistency. They will need it if they are going to avoid a relegation scrap.
How the team did last season
In the end, the Hammers were able to coast to a 14th place finish in the Premier League having collected 40 points. David Moyes also guided his team to a historic Europa Conference League triumph. All in all, it was a successful campaign for West Ham.
At one stage, though, it looked as though Moyes would be sacked.
West Ham won just four of their opening 15 matches in the Premier League, losing on nine occasions and reports emerged to suggest the former Manchester United boss was going to be replaced. He managed to turn it around though.
Their form after the turn of the year probably saved them from relegation. The Hammers picked up 20 points (half of their entire haul for the campaign) across 14 matches. For context, had they managed that sort of form for the entire season, they would’ve finished 10th on 54 points.
A lot of players struggled last term, but Jarrod Bowen still managed to catch the eye. He found the back of the net on six occasions and registered five assists on his way to a 6.97 FotMob rating. Bowen and Said Benrahma both created 48 chances last term but the former had the higher xA (6.0 to 3.3). He was comfortably the team’s best creator as well as one of their biggest goal threats.
It will come as no surprise to find out that Declan Rice topped the charts with 7.4 after an utterly dominant display in the middle third during his final season with the club.
What has happened during the summer?
Well, after weeks of negotiations, West Ham sold Rice to Arsenal for a British record fee, believed to be in the region of £105million. Replacing the former captain is going to be difficult and the Hammers haven’t had much luck yet.
They tried to sign João Palhinha but were priced out of a move by Fulham. Tyler Adams has been mentioned but at the time of writing, West Ham are yet to make a signing (Editor’s note – deals in principle have now been signed with Harry Maguire and James Ward-Prowse).
They also lost Manuel Lanzini with the attacking midfielder returning to his native Argentina. He may not have been a key player for the Hammers but he did make 23 appearances last term and he chipped in with three goals.
What they should be aiming for next season?
This is a difficult one. Right now, the squad is weaker than it was during the 2022/23 campaign and that was a season in which they massively struggled. Suggesting they should be aiming for a mid-table finish would be naive and it would suggest the situation hasn’t been properly analysed. However, it does feel like a squad made up of such talent should be aiming much higher than just survival.
They might find themselves in mid-table obscurity though simply because other teams are far worse than them. That isn’t exactly a bad place to be in.
Prediction
10th.
(Images from IMAGO)
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