Fulham’s First Win Shouldn’t Scare West Ham
By Adam Smith
Fulham struck gold in their first win of the season, shocking West Brom with two wonder goals, but the Cottager’s success shouldn’t scare West Ham.
West Ham are surprising themselves and plenty of Premier League onlookers this season with their impressive performances against some of the Prem’s elite teams. Hard-luck losses to Arsenal and Liverpool mar an unbelievable stretch of difficult games that have totalled eight points.
With that being said, Fulham are up next and the newly promoted and relegation favourites are coming off of their first win of the season. The Cottagers toppled relegation rivals West Brom on the back of a booming start to their match that saw two terrific goals from a Bobby Decordova-Reid and a shocking striker from right-back Ola Aina.
Despite their success in their most recent match, Fulham are a disjointed and unimpressive team (based on form this season) and West Ham shouldn’t be concerned about a shocking result from their cross-London combatants.
It sounds harsh, but West Ham, who only sit three places higher than Fulham in the table, should stomp on their opposition based on form alone. The Hammers’ +3 goal differential through a run of fixtures that included Arsenal, Wolves, Leicester, Spurs, Manchester City, and Liverpool should strike fear in Fulham, despite their recent win.
This is the match to circle when looking for an offensive outburst from the Hammers. They smoked Wolves 4-0 and followed that up with another shocking 3-0 win over Leicester. Then, they orchestrated the most unlikely comeback from down 3-0 against Spurs to draw the match in the most unlikely of fashions.
To continue their form, Moyes’ team then drew Manchester City and kept it very close against reigning Premier League champions Liverpool, all while conceding just a combined three goals against over the two matches mentioned.
Fulham have Scott Parker managing them, are high on their first win of the season, and have the glory of a wonder goal all fueling them forward. West Ham, however, have sustained success this season built on stingy defending.
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It’s never okay to overlook opposition and West Ham have done this in the past to their own detriment, but having self-belief and confidence will be key for the Hammers climb up the table. Fulham are a team that West Ham can break down, look for mounting pressure early and often to seal all three points as quick as possible.