2017/18 Premier League Preview West Ham United
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Last season was very tough for West Ham United and their manager Slaven Bilic so they will be hoping for an easier ride in the 2017/18 Premier League campaign.
Having been eliminated from the UEFA Europa League at the playoff stage, West Ham United were in the relegation zone come October. The club struggled to come to terms with life in the Olympic Stadium having moved from the Boleyn Ground.
There was also the saga following Dimitri Payet who eventually left the club to join Marseille in the winter transfer window.
A good spell of 6 wins from 9 games helped West Ham move away from the relegation zone and even a poor run of results towards the end of the season was not enough to see them sucked into a battle at the bottom of the table.
Having finished 10th, 13th, 12th, 7th and 11th since returning to the Premier League from the Championship in 2012/13, what can West Ham fans expect from this season?
From Bilic’s point of view, the only goal will be to get off to a good start this season. Having started poorly in 2016/17, the Croatian cannot afford to be hanging on to his job as he was for much of the time last season.
With Southampton, Newcastle United, Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion four of their first five Premier League fixtures, West Ham will be expected to pick up points. If they don’t, Bilic will be in trouble and is 15/2 to be the first managed to leave his post this season.
The positive news for Hammers fans is the work done by the club in the summer transfer window. Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez are not only good players but also have plenty of Premier League experience. The trio cost a combined £36 million, which is great value considering the current prices in the transfer market.
Hernandez is perhaps the standout buy from the summer and the Mexican is a proven goal scorer in the Premier League and Bundesliga. Hernandez needs decent service to score goals but should get that at West Ham and is 40/1 to be the top goal scorer in the Premier League this season. Hernandez is also 4/7 to be West Ham’s top scorer, with Andy Carroll next best at 5/1.
West Ham have also added England goalkeeper Joe Hart to their ranks on loan this season. Only five teams conceded more goals than West Ham last season and Bilic will hope the arrival of England’s number one goalkeeper will help shore them up at the back.
With good additions in the attacking third and defensively, West Ham will be hoping to finish in the top half of the Premier League this season. The Hammers were only 1 point off achieving that last season and look much stronger at the start of this campaign.
West Ham are 11/8 to finish in the top half this season, which would represent good progress for the club.
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