We know it is pantomime season, but a document we received from a member of staff at West Ham's London Stadium surely takes the biscuit! Essentially stewards are being warned that Burnley and West Ham supporters may well be wearing the same colours, and that there may be some confusion with regards to crowd separation....it's indeed fortunate that Aston Villa are currently languishing in the Championship otherwise there could be confusion twice per season!
The fact that Burnley sent back a large part of their ticket allowance, coupled with the fixture being a mid-week evening kick off means that there will be very few opposition fans to worry about, perhaps the evening could be used to help prep the staff for future matches, a kind of inset day. The main reason, as has already been mentioned by members of this site, for the 'Claret Confusion' notification ahead of the Burnley match is, that most of the staff actually seem to be Arsenal supporters and have no affinity with or knowledge about West Ham or the club's opponents.
The match itself represents a chance for Slaven Billic to urge his team forward against a Burnley side that have not enjoyed much success on their travels, the return from injury of both Aaron Cresswell and Mikael Antonio was very noticeable during the hard earned draw at Anfield and Slaven has the added bonus of having Checkou Kouyate available to help firm up the back three which look decidedly shaky without his height, speed and presence.
Hull are next up after Burnley, and if Hammers are to progress up the Barclays Premier League instead of being mired in a relegation scrap, then points need to be picked up. The next four days are super critical and will have a big say in West Ham's future, for those who believe in these things the Liverpool match was only the second game of the season where the team have not picked up a fresh injury. - Ed
