West Ham United’s 0-0 draw away to Crystal Palace was not a game that will live long in the memory, but Nuno Espirito Santo still walked away from Selhurst Park in high spirits.
Some felt that the Hammers missed an opportunity to twist the knife in Tottenham’s guts during what turned out to be a rather drab South London stalemate.
West Ham United could even slip back into the relegation zone this weekend should they fail to beat David Moyes’ Everton at home, and should Roberto de Zerbi secure Spurs’ first win of 2026 away at already-relegated Wolves.
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Nuno Espirito Santo, though, saw enough positives from Monday’s performance for his 17th-placed side to build upon.
West Ham United boss takes the pluses from Crystal Palace
“I think we played a good game against a very good team against Palace,” Nuno said during his pre-match press conference on Thursday lunchtime. “I think the team performed well.
“We had chances while remaining solid and compact. It was a good performance.
“We wanted the win and it didn’t come, but realising the team spirit and the way the boys committed themselves to their tasks was very positive.”
Taty Castellanos and Konstantinos Mavropanos came close during a first-half in which West Ham created the better of the chances. By the end, though, Nuno needed Mavropanos and Axel Disasi at their ‘fantastic’ best as Palace turned the screw.
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While Everton have the third-best defensive record in the division, no team can boast more clean sheets in the last nine matches than West Ham; a run of five in nine coinciding with Mads Hermansen’s return to the XI and Disasi’s arrival on loan from Chelsea.
Saturday could be a relatively low-scoring encounter, then.
But West Ham will happily take a nervy 1-0 win over the kind of high-scoring, helter-skelter afternoons of recent months.
“All the details are important,” added Nuno. “Football is defined by really fine margins and we are working on that aspect; working on our passing, our finishing, and all the processes of the game. Consistency, taking chances, being clinical; these are all the things we speak about.
“There is a lot of football to be played. Saturday is a big task for us.”
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