Can the Hammers pull off the Premier League's greatest escape of 2025-26?
West Ham sit 18th — in the relegation zone — but only on goal difference, with seven games remaining. A dramatic turnaround since January has given them real survival hope, though the Opta supercomputer still gives them a ~50% chance of going down. It all comes down to a brutal run-in and a direct six-pointer season against rivals Spurs, Forest, and Leeds.
A poor start to the 2025/26 Premier League season saw Graham Potter sacked on 27th September 2025, with Nuno Espirito Santo brought in to replace him. Improved performances in beating Newcastle and Burnley saw West Ham climb out of the drop zone, but they then went on a 10-match winless run including losses to a previously winless Wolves and relegation rivals Forest.
A 3-0 defeat to Wolves on 3 January — a Wolves side that hadn't won all season — was the kind of humiliation that had plenty completely writing off West Ham's chances of avoiding the drop. A second defeat to Nottingham Forest in four days followed, leaving them with just 14 points from 21 matches. Only one team in Premier League history had taken 14 points or fewer from their first 21 matches and avoided relegation.
West Ham looked doomed at the start of the year before a huge win at rivals Tottenham kickstarted their survival bid. They have also beaten relegation rival Burnley and picked up another big win at Fulham.
Over the last four matchdays, only Chelsea and Manchester United had taken more points than West Ham's nine. Crysencio Summerville is the most notable contributor, with a goal in each of his last five appearances in all competitions. West Ham earned the 11th-most points in the division since New Year's Day — remarkable form for a team fighting at the bottom.
They could have crumbled entirely, but they're showing some fight and have — essentially out of nowhere — found some momentum.
Ahead of matchday 31, Tottenham had a one-point lead over West Ham and Nottingham Forest, while Leeds, the other team in danger, are two points clear of Spurs.
West Ham, at 3.15 on the Betfair Exchange, carry a 32% chance of being relegated. Leeds are the outsiders of the threatened quartet at 15%. Burnley and Wolves, although mathematically still able to dodge relegation, are given a 97% and 99% chance of suffering the drop. That effectively means the third relegation spot is a straight fight between West Ham, Spurs, Forest, and Leeds.
The fixture list is in Leeds and Wolves' favour based on the opposition's league position, with Spurs, Forest, West Ham and Burnley all having more difficult games left to play. There are some crucial clashes between relegation rivals in the last three months of the season, with Leeds facing four of the bottom six in their final six fixtures, including a final-day trip to West Ham.