There is no more damning indictment of West Ham United’s results this season than the fact that, under both Graham Potter and Nuno Espirito Santo, they have spent only one week outside of the Premier League’s relegation zone.
That 3-0 drubbing by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on the opening weekend meant the Hammers found themselves in 19th by the time the first round of matches came to an end.
Only Wolves – obliterated 4-0 by Manchester City – endured a more fitful beginning.
West Ham United, 19th. Wolverhampton Wanderers, 20th. That would quickly become a common sight over the next couple of months.
The Londoners even slipped to the foot of the table following a five-goal destruction at the hands of Chelsea. The shock 3-0 win at Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest did provide some respite though, when West Ham sacked Graham Potter and hired Nuno at the end of September, they were back in the familiar surroundings of the bottom three.
Even 2007/08’s record-breaking Derby County had more points than the Hammers after nine matches.
With one win in nine games, seven defeats and 20 goals conceded, this was officially their worst start to a league season in 52 years.
Understandably, then, that Newcastle triumph has Nuno feeling a bit more positive about things. For the first time since a week after his acrimonious Nottingham Forest departure on September 9th, West Ham are going into Saturday’s battle with potential relegation rivals Burnley with some semblance of momentum behind them.
But what do West Ham need to do if they are to end matchday 11 outside of the dreaded relegation zone?
West Ham United can escape the Premier League’s relegation zone against Burnley
Quite simply, they need to beat Scott Parker’s Burnley, and by four clear goals. Easier said than done, of course.
The Clarets’ minus seven goal difference is superior to West Ham’s minus eleven. But not so superior that it makes the idea of climbing above Saturday’s opponents completely implausible.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 16 |  LeedsLeeds | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 11 |
| 17 |  BurnleyBurnley | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 19 | -7 | 10 |
| 18 |  West HamWest Ham | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 21 | -11 | 7 |
| 19 |  Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 19 | -12 | 6 |
| 20 |  WolvesWolves | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 22 | -15 | 2 |
Unlikely, maybe. Improbable, yes. But certainly not impossible.
Not if West Ham can produce a repeat of the intensity and attacking verve they demonstrated last time out against Champions League-level opponents in Newcastle.
Nuno Espirito Santo was delighted by that Newcastle victory
A victory by any margin would take the Hammers up to 10 points from 11 matches.
They had 12 at the same stage in 2024/25 – Julen Lopetegui was sacked in early-January – yet still finished four places and 18 points above the relegation zone.
Survival is unlikely to come quite so easy this term, though. Sunderland, Leeds and, of course, Burnley, have proven themselves to be a cut above last season’s whipping boys of Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town.
Even more so than the result, though, Nuno was enthused by West Ham’s spirit and their so-called bouncebackability against Newcastle.
The Hammers have folded quicker than a cheap deck chair in a You’ve Been Framed montage at times this season. Turning setbacks into full-blown crises during heavy defeats by Sunderland, Chelsea and Tottenham.
As Alphonse Areola put it, though, West Ham showed real ‘togetherness’ when Jacob Murphy’s fourth minute opener left them sprawling on the canvas.
Nuno reflects on Burnley challenge as Scott Parker returns to East London
Rather than waiting to be counted out, they dusted themselves off and landed a knockout blow of their own.
“Football is like that. You can be punished, but you have to react [to setbacks],” Nuno said during his pre-Burnley press conference on Thursday.
“You cannot put your head down and think the game is over. Even when we conceded, it came from a really nice move when we hit the bar with Jarrod [Bowen]
“The reaction was positive. As I see it, this is the best thing that has happened to us, the way we reacted against adversity. I think we competed really well.
“[Burnley will be] a totally different match. A totally different team. Burnley with Scott will be hard. We’ve been watching how good they have been,” the coach adds of a side who have taken six points off Leeds and Wolves already.
“The table now is not a reference for us. We know we are in a bad position in the table. Let’s not think about the table. Let’s think about our game. If the team improves their game, then we can think about the table.
“There are not ‘ifs’ in our head. We must compete. Saturday, we have another challenge ahead of us. We are going to face a very good team. We have to be switched on and compete really well.
“If Newcastle is our standard, we [still] have to improve.”
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