Top-half finish now in the reckoning for defiant West Ham

How quickly the landscape can shift in football and, more specifically, the Premier League scenery, where West Ham have showed their fellow stragglers what momentous leaps can be achieved by stringing together three straight wins.

Taking nine points from three games at any point in a Premier League season is not easily achievable for any team, but especially for a side who’ve been battling to stay above water all season.

Having looked neck-deep in the brown stuff in 18th after getting soundly beaten by Newcastle with a daunting trip to Stamford Bridge next on the horizon, an extremely hard-fought 0-0 draw provided the platform for this terrific little points-collecting spree.

So squeezed is the top-flight in 2013/14 – only eight points now separate 10th from bottom – that West Ham have just catapulted themselves eight places by virtue of taking 10 points from the last dozen available.

Whereas many people’s money (admittedly this writer’s too) had been aimed at the Hammers taking the dreaded drop just a few weeks back, suddenly the 9/2 on West Ham maintaining their current top-half standing is far more appealing.

In the space of about 10 days, Sam Allardyce’s charges have fluctuated wildly from 5/2 to be relegated in the wake of Andy Carroll’s red card to a massive 8/1 to face the flush now.

The Hammers have also proved that they don’t need their most expensive player to get results which will only fill them with more belief.

Part of the key to West Ham’s rapid ladder climbing was beating the three teams occupying the rungs around them, but a Premier League high of 13 clean sheets is a stat which belongs to a team worthy of finishing above the fold.

The Londoners’ latest run acts as a shining example to all others involved in the relegation dogfight of how quickly they can climb.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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