The Irons must hope Manchester United can somehow do them a huge favour by beating both Leicester on Tuesday and then Liverpool 48 hours later, but why would they want to help 'little old' West Ham break into the 'septic six'?
Everton failing to beat Aston Villa would be very handy, If that happens then West Ham will have another chance to close within two points of fourth-placed Leicester with two games to go. The Foxes would then be under huge pressure when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the league next Tuesday night. If they lose that, and if West Ham beat West Brom a day later, then Hammers could find themselves in fourth spot going into the last game of the season.
There are a lot of ‘ifs’ and 'buts' involved, but West Ham’s Champions League dream is still hanging by a thread, and there is still a glimmer of hope, much will be determined by the results from the fixtures being played during the week before West Ham face Brighton on Saturday.
Unfortunately, as results have panned out, it appears Hammers slim chances of snatching a Champions League spot will be decided by Aston Villa and Manchester United, both clubs can alter how the final Barclays Premier League table ends up, particularly Manchester United who play Leicester City on Tuesday, and Liverpool on Thursday.
The Manchester team also have a bunch of other fixtures, including the Europa League Cup final, so West Ham can expect ZERO help from them, in fact their manager went out of his way during his last 'presser' to highlight the fact that their congested fixture list would result in having to play weakened starting line ups against their opponents.
Some might say that events have conspired to keep the Irons out of the Champions League, others might say "what did you expect with such a paucity in strength and depth?". Hopefully Declan Rice will be able to grace the pitch against Brighton, The Baggies and the Saints for the season's final fixtures, and then we will see what might have been - Ed
Comments
I'd prefer these scenarios to
I'd prefer these scenarios to the relegation ones with deciphered in the past!! Still in with a long shot, stranger things have happened
Let's hope Manure get their
Let's hope Manure get their second "fine" in a week for that absolute weak, piss average side they put out tonight
Man Utd put out a very weak
Man Utd put out a very weak team with the number of changes. Not surprising that they lost to Leicester. Maybe they will do likewise against Liverpool with the tactic to ensure that West Ham do not qualify for The Champions League place and then they can attract not only Lingard back but also tempt Rice to come to Manchester where they can battle with Man City for his services. That is why Man City also ensured that Chelsea gets that other spot with the 9 or so changes in their starting lineup.
Are the English FA going to investigate whether these matches were fixed with the team selections. Guardiola looked very nervous and then got defensive when asked about the 9 changes to his squad prior to the Chelsea match. Remember that both Chelsea and Leicester were supposed to have some very challenging matches towards the end of the Season.
These last matches will be
These last matches will be crucial, you will have to face them as if they were cup finals. In any case, I'm very happy and proud of the guys, it's been a fantastic season.