Why 18th-placed West Ham are a real danger to Liverpool

The Reds won late at Nottingham Forest last Sunday, and they now need to back that up with another three points this weekend.

West Ham head to Anfield where they sit 18th in the Premier League and two points off safety, but they are seventh in the form table over the past five games (Liverpool are sixth).

We’ve previewed Saturday’s match with West Ham podcaster James Jones (@ByJamesJones), as he assesses a tough season, the key battles against Liverpool and more.

How would you rate West Ham’s season out of 10? What went wrong?

Before January it was one in ten and a complete mess of a season. But since the turn of the year we have been doing so much better, and it now looks more like a seven.

Combined it is a four.

Graham Potter was definitely the wrong man for the job, but considering he kept us informed last season, it’s no surprise he was retained.

Then the season started so badly and it probably took a little too long for the club to pull the trigger.

Nuno Espirito Santo has improved things massively, but it also took him a while to get going as he cost us points with crazy experimental starting XIs in big games against Brentford and Leeds, which cost us valuable points.

Things are looking better now – I’m just afraid it’s too little, too late.

Is Nuno the right man to keep you in the Premier League?

He’s definitely the right man to keep us up – I’m just worried that in the end things happened a little too late, as mentioned.

There are only two points between Forest and us, and we have overcome bigger games in previous relegation battles to stay top, so it is far from over.

If he keeps us afloat, I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes us straight back into the top 10 of the Premier League next season.

That’s how well we play and that’s how good our core group of first-team players is.

Do you think relegation will be avoided?

Apart from Leeds, we are the form team there at the moment and that will make a difference.

But we have to keep that momentum going for the next eleven games.

We will lose some games, but it is how we recover from those defeats that will determine our fate.

If we can get a few surprise results along the way, and maybe achieve a similar run to what we’re on now – one defeat in six league games – I think we’ll be safe.

We have Leeds at home on the last weekend of the season and I really, really hope that game isn’t the deciding factor.

Which three players have had the most difficult time? Anyone impressed?

The entire squad has struggled for much of the season, but the one player who has had a nightmare is Max Kilman.

He just wasn’t very good and cost us a lot of money in so many games because of his poor positioning and awareness.

The fact that Dinos Mavropanos has kept him out of the squad for the past two months, despite being prone to mistakes himself, speaks volumes.

Mads Hermansen is another player who struggled early in the season and was knocked out just four games into his West Ham career, but he has recently regained his number 1 spot and is looking much better.

In terms of those who have impressed, Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville have been incredible.

Fernandes in particular is already a midfielder at Champions League level and he is only 21. The boy will go to the top.

Axel Disasi has also been fantastic since joining on loan from Chelsea at the end of January.

How do you rate Liverpool’s season? Would you keep Arne Slot?

It was a shock, wasn’t it?

I don’t think anyone saw this coming, even at the beginning of the season when you still had to rely on last-minute winners every week.

I would keep Arne Slot for at least one more season, but only if he secures a place in the top four this season.

If he fails to secure Champions League football, I don’t see any reason why a club like Liverpool would tolerate that. It just has to be the bare minimum.

What is your favorite and worst memory of this fixture?

We have only won one game at Anfield since 1963 – the 3-0 win in 2015 under Slaven Bilic – so that is my only fond memory of this match at Anfield.

Unsurprisingly, there are several bad memories, so it would be very difficult to pick one.

How do you rate Anfield as an away day?

I’ve never been to Anfield so I can’t speak from personal experience, but friends have told me it’s a great day.

One day I’ll play a game there.

Where will the most important battles take place on Saturday?

I think it all depends on whether you can handle the pace and directness of Summerville on the left and the legs and vision of Fernandes in midfield.

If both are undone, I fear for us.

However, defensively we are much better now as we have kept three clean sheets in our last four games, so we won’t be as easy to break as we were a few months ago.

Give us your prediction…

Given the position we both find ourselves in, you have to say this is probably the best time for a club desperate for points to visit Anfield.

There is a lot of confidence in the team at the moment and I think that will be reflected in our performance.

I’m going for a 1-1 draw – a huge point for us and I’ll keep the pressure on Forest and Spurs.