Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham has endured some shocking form recently which was finally ended on Saturday with a historic 1-0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Chilean veteran has been under huge amounts of pressure and many see the Chelsea result as merely papering over the cracks, however, Pellegrini may be confident that he can enjoy a positive Christmas period with West Ham which could save his job in the long run and be the spark which ignites West Ham’s lackluster season.
Wolves (A) 1-1
This is certainly a tough game for West Ham and they were appalling against Wolves last season in both meetings. Molineux is a tough place to go, especially on a cold Wednesday night, but West Ham should be looking to get the win after an impressive display at the Bridge on Saturday.
Wolves have had two outstanding performers this season in Adama Traore, who frightens the opposition defense with his brutal pace, and Raul Jimenez, who is an ice-cold finisher. Pellegrini should look to keep the same back four that was victorious against Chelsea but play Arthur Masuaku on the left-wing so there are two players covering Adama.
He should also look to keep Anderson at number 10 as he was often effective their last time out and using Fornals as a second-half substitute could bring the attack to life if needed. Hopefully, Michail Antonio is fit and can start-up front next to Seb Haller, which could prove to be very effective. It’s certainly a tough game, but West Ham has to get at least a point so I think it will finish 1-1.
Arsenal (H) 1-0
Arsenal is in bad form at the time of writing having just sacked Unai Emery. On Sunday, interim manager Freddie Ljungberg wasn’t able to turn round results against Norwich. Although Arsenal is currently looking for a manager, I think it’s probably unlikely that they’ll have someone in place by Monday.
Therefore, I expect West Ham to turn up against Arsenal and beat them. Michail Antonio loves these kinds of games and he can manipulate Arsenal’s shaky defense immensely if he’s fit and firing. Pellegrini has shown he can motivate the players for an important London derby and hopefully he can do the same on Monday night.
However, it could easily go the other way, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette could find their rhythm and West Ham could find themselves on the end of another defeat, it is by no means an easy game despite Arsenal’s bad form. West Ham should have full faith that they can win though and I think it will finish 1-0 to the home side.
Southampton (A) 1-2
Pellegrini should be looking at this game as an easy three points. In recent times, West Ham has a good record against Southampton who is flirting with relegation for the third season in a row. If West Ham doesn’t win than questions need to be asked of Pellegrini.
You could argue that Danny Ings has been in decent form and James Ward-Prowse is deadly from set-pieces, but they lost 0-9 to Leicester, West Ham should definitely win with the players that they have at their disposal.
Crystal Palace (A) 1-1
Another tough test for the Hammers over the Christmas period and another London Derby. Crystal Palace has been excellent this season especially considering they didn’t bring in many players in the Summer. They stunned West Ham in their last meeting at the London Stadium and their form has only improved since as Wilfred Zaha has started scoring and assisting.
This game could go either way and could be dependant on form leading up to it. On paper, West Ham should probably be winning if they want to finish in a reasonably high position but Palace will certainly be up for it and they could even sneak the win, therefore I have predicted that it will finish 1-1.
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Leicester (H) 2-2
This is a historically hard game for West Ham made even harder by Leicester’s phenomenal form. Both teams have very competent attacking outlets and I think that West Ham will sneak a draw based on the fact that Pellegrini could be under pressure to finish the Christmas period positively.
The two teams seemed to be pretty even at the start of the season but Leicester has produced win after win and some would argue that they have a small chance of another shock title win.
I think it will be a very open game that’ll finish 2-2, although once again it is a tough game that the Hammers have to step up for.
Bournemouth (H) 3-1
Pellegrini will see this as a must-win game to propel his side positively into the New Year (if he is still in charge of course). Bournemouth is traditionally shaky at the back and I think that the Hammers can finish the Christmas period positively by scoring three goals and securing the three points.
If you added that up correctly, that’s 12 points for the boys in claret and blue over this tough holiday period and why not as long as the Hammers can play like they did last weekend at Chelsea. While tough on paper, Pellegrini’s men could galvanize after this result and push on through to 2020.