After a shock loss to Southampton on Boxing Day, West Ham United finds themselves in free fall. They currently sit in sixth place in the Premier League table. Once all the postponed matches are played, they could find themselves battling to stay in the top half of the Premier League. It was unthinkable, only a month ago, when the Hammers were flying high in fourth place.
At least in Watford they will face a side that they have a good recent record against. In the Irons’ last three matches against the Moosemen, they have picked up all three points each time, scoring ten goals.
West Ham also has a tremendous record against recently promoted sides. Over the past two seasons, they have faced newly-promoted sides 12 times, and have lost just once. That lone defeat came at the hands of fellow London side Brentford, whom they lost to 2-1 this past October.
Watford vs West Ham FYIs:
Kick-off time: 3 PM GMT, 28th December 2021
West Ham Starting XI Prediction: go here
Premier League Preview Podcast: go here
Form Guide (All Competitions): Watford (LL***) West Ham (DL*LL)
Let’s have a look at the team news for the Hammers, as they head into their final fixture for the year 2021.
The big news is they will be without their best player for this one. Declan Rice will miss out after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season in the loss to Southampton. It’s a bitter blow for the East London club. Given the poor form that they are in, they can ill afford to lose their best player.
Aaron Cresswell remains out of contention for selection. The back injury that he sustained when colliding with the goal post against Manchester City is much worse than first confirmed.
David Moyes had this to say:
“It’s taking longer than we expected. We are missing him. He slid into the post at Manchester City and he’s got a slight, I don’t know if you call it on his rib or vertebrae, but he’s got something that is a problem.”
Their defensive injury crisis is slowly dissipating. With long-term injury victims Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna joining Cresswell as the only ones left on the crocked list, David Moyes might need to enter the transfer market to give himself more options as they head into the second half of the season.
I am picking the Hammers to turn their fortunes around with a win at Vicarage Road. They have been poor, but Watford is worse. A win for the Londoners.