West Ham fans have been particularly happy in the Transfer Tavern during the international break following their side’s most recent victory.
Slaven Bilic’s men were languishing in the Premier League’s bottom three ahead of their clash with Swansea City last time out, but a 90th minute winner from striker Diafra Sakho secured the Hammers a much-needed 1-0 success over Paul Clement’s side.
That win lifted the East London outfit up to 15th in the division and has somewhat eased the pressure on manager Bilic, who would have been feeling it at the start of the campaign having lost all three of his opening three league games.
However, the Hammers will now go in search of back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since January on Saturday against Burnley at Turf Moor, who currently sit nine places and seven points clear of West Ham in the Premier League table.
Sean Dyche’s side have won three and drawn three of their first seven matches but have picked up just four points from their opening three home games, in which time they have managed just one goal.
And as such West Ham will be confident of going to Lancashire and picking up all three points, and here are THREE reasons why they will do just that this weekend…
Impressive recent record
West Ham appear to enjoy playing against Burnley, having won their last five meetings between the two sides, and having lost just twice in 14 games since the turn of the millennium.
Bilic’s men won 2-1 at Turf Moor on the final day of last season to give them good memories of the trip up to Lancashire, and you have to go back to 2010 for the last time the Hammers lost away to the Clarets, with goals from David Nugent and Danny Fox sealing a 2-1 win for the hosts.
Thus, their impressive recent record should serve them well ahead of Saturday’s clash, and thus inspire West Ham to a first away league victory of the campaign.
Burnley’s home woes
In stark contrast to last season, where Burnley won ten of their 19 Premier League home games and claimed many scalps at Turf Moor, they have struggled in the early phase of this term at home.
Dyche’s side have won just one of their four home matches in all competitions so far, and in that time have managed to score just three goals, two of which came against Leeds United in the Carabao Cup last month.
A 1-0 defeat to West Brom, a 1-0 success over Crystal Palace, and a 0-0 draw against Huddersfield will hardly inspire confidence in the Clarets dressing room, and although they will rightly point back to last season, eventually that will become a distant memory.
And that’s something West Ham must take advantage of. They have to take the sting out of the game and keep the fans quiet and edgy – doing so could see the Hammers leave the North West with all three points.
Clear improvement in recent weeks
West Ham lost their opening three Premier League games of the season to pile the pressure on manager Bilic, but things have certainly picked up since then.
The Hammers have lost just one of their last five games in all competitions, and that was a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham a few weeks back, while recording important league successes over Huddersfield Town and Swansea City, and drawing at West Brom.
They stopped the rot in their last away game by grabbing a point at the Hawthorns, and they’ll be seeking to maintain their recent good run and improvement at Turf Moor on Saturday.
