West Ham United

The Premier League's return this weekend brings trepidation for some and excitement for others.

Football's emotional rollercoaster becomes intense at this time of year, unless of course mid-table mediocrity has taken a grip of things in recent months.

So how are you feeling as an West Ham fan with just a handful of weeks left to go?

The league form reads: DDLWDL

The next three league fixtures are: Wolves (h), Crystal Palace (a) and Everton (h)

Let us know how you're feeling here

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The Premier League returns on Friday, with West Ham hosting bottom club Wolves at London Stadium.

It is a big opportunity for the Hammers to pull themselves out of the relegation zone as Tottenham, who are one point above West Ham, and Nottingham Forest, who have a three-point advantage, do not play until Sunday.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side will need to bounce back physically and mentally from Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Leeds, which went to extra time and penalties.

So how are you feeling going into Friday's game? Nervous off the back of the cup exit? Is it a 'six-pointer'? Or is it a good opportunity to get some more points on the board and increase the pressure on Tottenham and Nottingham Forest?

Get in touch with your views

Holly Bacon
BBC Sport journalist

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been speaking to the media before Friday's Premier League game against Wolves at London Stadium (kick-off 20:00).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Crysencio Summerville, Jean-Clair Todibo and Callum Wilson are all "improving" and Nuno is positive they can be available for Friday. He also added Dinos Mavropanos is clear of the concussion protocol.

• The Hammers boss was asked about Axel Disasi and Alphonse Areola, who came off in the FA Cup loss against Leeds and he said "they are OK - tiredness and fatigue".

• On the defeat by Leeds, Nuno added: "It's been a couple of difficult days. We had a lot of hope and belief that we could achieve reaching Wembley - we were disappointed, but the way we did it showed we put [up] a fight. We reacted and didn't give up until the end. We move forward realising that our major fight is starting on Friday."

• The West Ham boss faced questions about Aaron Wan-Bissaka's return from international duty with DR Congo and said: "We deal with that. It was not possible for him to be here [for Leeds], but now he's returned, he's good, he's working. Let's see if he can help the team."

• On dealing with pressure: "We've been under pressure since the beginning. In the Premier League you can ask anyone, we are [under] constant scrutiny. We are being evaluated in every action we make. The players are used to that and they are ready. What is important is that we are, as a team, together with the fans. It's going to be tough but it'll be much easier if we can count on all the support we are going to have."

• He added: "As a club we are in a position that we don't want to be and it's up to us, the players and us coaches to take care of the mission that we have in hand. We know, we are aware but we are confident and we believe in each other."

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We asked for your views on West Ham's Premier League run-in and whether they will stay up.

Here are some of your comments:

David: I think we will scrape through by the skin of our teeth. Spurs will be relegated, there is simply not enough time for the manager to stop the ship from sinking, and some international players on hefty contracts will already have their eyes firmly on the World Cup as a shop window for a summer transfer, and will be avoiding injury or overexertion. That is my hope anyway!

Colm: I can't tell you who are destined to go down but I can say with confidence that the Hammers will stay up!

Steve: We have the quality and the heart but I think alot will come down to team selection. This was shown against Leeds, so fingers crossed we should get out of trouble.

Robin: I honestly believe West Ham will stay up. I think Forest could go because they are still in the cup, travelling abroad could give you problems.

Mikey: We deserve to go down and then may struggle to come back up in a more competitive league.

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

There are 21 points left up for grabs in the 2025-26 Premier League season and every one of those will matter for those near the bottom of the table.

Who will survive and who will be relegated to the Championship?

West Ham currently sit in 18th, with Tottenham one point above the drop, Nottingham Forest three ahead and Leeds four.

Here's a look at the four clubs' final seven games of the season.

West Ham face bottom club Wolves on Friday - their first of four home games in the run-in.

The Hammers then face Brentford, Everton and Newcastle, who are all chasing a European spot, and current league leaders Arsenal.

If it goes down to the wire, then the final game of the season between West Ham and Leeds could be all or nothing.

Unlike West Ham, Tottenham have more away games in their run-in.

Yet that could in fact favour Spurs given they possess the worst home record in the Premier League this season, having won just two of their 16 home games.

Roberto de Zerbi will need to make an immediate impact as they travel to Sunderland and then host his former club Brighton the following week.

Spurs host Leeds on 11 May in what could be an important game in the fight for survival, before two tricky final games against Chelsea and Everton.

Nottingham Forest and Leeds have three and four-point buffers to the drop zone respectively - but they will play more games than Tottenham and West Ham as they are both still in cup competitions.

Forest have still got to play three of the current top six, as well as European-chasing Newcastle and Bournemouth.

Should they progress to the Europa League semi-finals then both legs will have to be played either side of their trip to Stamford Bridge on 4 May.

Leeds' FA Cup semi-final - also against Chelsea - will be played three days after their visit to Bournemouth.

And it is Leeds who have to play the most teams near the bottom, with four of their seven remaining fixtures against the current bottom four.

So how are you feeling? Does it make you nervy looking at your club's and other teams' fixtures? Or do you think you have enough to beat the drop?

Get in touch with your views here

All kick-off times BST, fixture dates and times subject to change.

James Jones
Fan writer

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There is a difference of opinion throughout the West Ham fanbase where Sunday's FA Cup exit to Leeds United is concerned.

While everyone is obviously disappointed not to have made a first FA Cup semi-final since 2006, the consequences of such a defeat are somewhat different, depending on which side of the fence you sit.

On one side, with seven Premier League fixtures left to play and still being inside the relegation zone, no longer having the FA Cup to focus on during that period allows Nuno Espirito Santo, his staff and his players to put all of their focus on guiding the club to survival.

On the other, a trip to Wembley in the semi-final and then again for the chance to win a first FA Cup since 1980 might have given the players a huge confidence boost as they figure out how they are going to preserve West Ham's top-flight status at the same time.

Many will have taken an FA Cup win if it meant relegation to the Championship. After all, football is all about winning trophies, isn't it? Many others will have preferred survival over silverware because, as we recently learned from the club's annual accounts, West Ham's financial issues become immediately and worryingly worse without Premier League level income.

There is credence to both views. I am not sure which one I subscribe to. Indeed, I would have loved to see West Ham at Wembley for the first time since the 2012 second-tier play-off final. Winning the FA Cup would also allow me to bury the demons of 2006 once and for all, with Steven Gerrard's late, cramp-induced wonder strike in Cardiff still haunting me and many other Hammers fans to this day.

But it was not to be this year. I am convinced our year will come again eventually.

Now the focus really is on making sure we stay in the Premier League. Seven games to go, starting with rock-bottom Wolves at home on Friday.

This is, arguably, the biggest two months in the club's modern history. Perhaps ever. A disastrous ending does not bear thinking about.

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West Ham winger Adama Traore believes the "fighting spirit" the team showed in their dramatic FA Cup defeat by Leeds is what can keep them up in the Premier League this season.

The Hammers, who are one point off safety, trailed Leeds 2-0 going into stoppage time after goals from Ao Tanaka and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

However, late goals from Mateus Fernandes and Axel Disasi forced a 2-2 draw and extra time - in which the side had two goals ruled out for offside - only to ultimately bow out on penalties.

"I'm sad because of how we lost but we have to take the positives from the game," Traore said.

"We showed great fighting spirit and fought until the end. It's unfortunate that we lost on penalties but we'll try to improve and be better in our next game.

"We need to move on because this game is now already in the past. I believe we can stay up and the feeling would have been better if it was a win, but there were positives."

West Ham can take themselves out of the relegation zone before their rivals play if they beat bottom side Wolves at home on Friday.

Traore, signed in January by Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who also managed him at Wolves, added: "I love the identity of the club and the fans who are passionate like myself.

"I want to play and do well under a manager I know."

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final between West Ham and Leeds.

Here are some of your comments:

West Ham fans

Sue: Was quite impressed with the second half but thought we were unlucky to have two goals disallowed. Thought Taty should have scored, he missed an open goal. At least we can concentrate on Premier League survival. It was an entertaining game.

Andy: Brilliant comeback by West Ham, they dominated extra time and in the end were very unlucky to lose. Young Herrick was close to a couple of the penalties, a debut to remember!

John: It was bittersweet, but I am secretly relieved as I think we need all our focus to be on our last Premier League games. It was great to see us fight back late in the game and create chances in extra time because that gives me hope for us in the rest of the season.

Matthew: I was glad the fans who left weren't allowed back in. There's a culture of leaving early at West Ham and hopefully this will teach most of them that do it regularly a hard lesson that we need support until the end. It must be demoralising for players to see stands emptying and those who do it probably make up a large portion of the negative energy that's been damaging this club for years now.

Leeds fans

Stephen: Delighted to be in an FA Cup semi-final for the first time since Wee Billy was manager and Neil Aspin was postponing his wedding to play against Coventry. I have carried those memories for nearly 40 years so am over the moon that we have reached that stage of competition that captured me in 1972.

Andrew: Leeds turn a winning stroll in 90 minutes in to extra time and penalties. We must improve game management to see out wins as this will be crucial to staying up. West Ham are where they are for a reason and we should have won by three or four. This cup run is fantastic though and long overdue - and Leeds have already beaten Chelsea this season.

Eric: At 2-0 on 90 minutes it should have been all about game management, even with a very strange 11 minutes of added time, but even so, once again we very nearly grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory. Not for the first time this season. Perri really pulled it out of the bag for this one. He was my man of the match for his whole performance and not just for the penalty saves, but the team still has a lot of work to do to reach the finish line.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport journalist

With West Ham sitting 18th in the Premier League, in the relegation zone and in danger of dropping to the Championship, this was a glorious chance for the players to give the supporters a day out at Wembley.

Before the game, captain Jarrod Bowen said the club could turn "an underwhelming season into a really special one" and said the match was a "big opportunity".

So often the Hammers' star performer this season, Bowen added: "A Wembley trip for everyone associated with this club would be incredible. This is the FA Cup, the competition we all grew up watching and dreaming of winning."

But, on a desperately disappointing afternoon for home fans, the Hammers could not take their chance.

A poor first half featured them giving the ball away sloppily on several occasions, with discontent rising in the stands.

Bowen had a shot saved following a bright run by Adama Traore, but it was no surprise when Leeds went ahead. The tie then looked over when Dominic Calvert-Lewin added a second, with a penalty that was given following a check by the video assistant referee.

But, in a barely believable stoppage-time period, West Ham scored twice to earn a second bite at the cherry. Mateus Fernandes followed up after Bowen hit the post and then Axel Disasi steered in Traore's cross.

In a breathtaking game that had nearly everything, West Ham then had two goals ruled out in extra time - Taty Castellanos and Pablo each offside when they found the net, the latter after Bowen rattled the woodwork with a fierce shot.

Then came the frustration of the penalties, and West Ham must quickly pick themselves up before Friday's home league game against bottom-placed Wolves, a fixture which Nuno Espirito Santo's side will see victory as essential if they are to stay in the top flight.

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "It is sad the way it ended because in the second half and in extra-time we created chances that could have stopped it going to penalties. It's sad, it's tough. We saw from the fans what it meant to us to try and reach Wembley but it wasn't to be so we have to rest in the best way we can and react for the next one."

On pride in the performance: "That and the way we prove to ourselves that we can never give up. The game is not done until the referee says so and we have to take that into our future starting on Friday."

On Adama Traore: "He did some good actions, he worked well and he is getting up to speed. He didn't have too many minutes but today Adama did well and we need all of them to do well."

On Finlay Herrick: "He is a young goalkeeper with talent, he played for England in the youth. We have a project to try and help him to become what we expect from a good goalkeeper that can help us."

On how this will affect them going into the Wolves game on Friday: "It will take more time to recover. The legs go when you win and recover quicker. We have the sadness and that will drag into this evening and tomorrow but we have to react. We have important games so we will keep fighting."

West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen speaking to TNT Sports: "Gutted. It hurts a lot after being 2-0 down. I missed and I can only apologise to everyone involved for that. You never want to miss penalties but I have today and I have to face that. It doesn't define who I am but I have to stand tall from that. We did a lot of good things in the game but it wasn't to be.

On the performance: "In the first half, we had a few good opportunities, the keeper made a great save from Taty [Castellanos] and from me. Our shape probably wasn't good enough and we tweaked a few things. At 2-0 down you have to go for it. We thought we would go on and win the game but it wasn't meant to be."

"It has to hurt. We are hurt as a team. We have to dust ourselves down and get back into training tomorrow for the Wolves game on Friday because we know what we have to do."

Did you know?

• West Ham have given away nine penalties in all competitions this season – more than any other Premier League side.

• Axel Disasi scored his first goal since December 2024 for Chelsea against Southampton, 487 days ago. He hadn't scored in 25 appearances across spells at Chelsea, Aston Villa, and West Ham between the two.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on West Ham's performance

What did you make of Leeds United's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

West Ham make five changes from the side that began the 2-0 loss at Aston Villa on 22 March with starts for Alphonse Areola, Max Kilman, Kyle Walker-Peters, Soungoutou Magassa and Adama Traore.

Jarrod Bowen, who played for England twice in the international break, is named in the 11.

West Ham XI: Areola, Malick Diouf, Disasi, Kilman, Walker-Peters, Fernandes, Potts, Magassa, Traore, Castellanos, Bowen.

The big news for Leeds is top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin is only among the substitutes. It is three changes from the side that began the home goalless draw with Brentford.

Lucas Perri is in goal, with Ao Tanaka and Noah Okafor also starting.

Leeds XI: Perri, Struijk, Bijol, Rodon, Justin, Stach, Ampadu, Bogle, Tanaka, Nmecha, Okafor.

The most intriguing thing about this tie is how both teams are going to approach it.

They are both in the thick of the relegation battle at the bottom of the table and will surely have at least one eye on that, rather than being fully focused on the FA Cup.

Leeds don't play in the league until the following Monday, when they go to Old Trafford, but West Ham are back in action on Friday, at home to bottom side Wolves.

Out of the two games, Wolves is surely the one that Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo will prioritise, because it has to be seen as 'must win' for them - but you could argue Leeds manager Daniel Farke will do the same before his side play Manchester United too.

The one thing both teams definitely don't want here is extra time, and what usually happens in that scenario is that the tie goes the distance.

So, that's what I am going to say we will see here, too. You won't be able to split the teams over 90 minutes, but then Leeds will be the ones who find a winner.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2 (after extra time)

Read the full predictions and have your say

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been speaking to the media before Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Leeds at The London Stadium(16:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On the fitness of his squad returning from the international break, Nuno said: "Assessing players. International break - positive that many of our players achieved big things. Some not so happy, some returned with issues. We are assessing."

• Asked specifically about the fitness of Crysencio Summerville, who has missed the Hammers' last two Premier League games with a calf problem, he added: "All of us trying to get him fit as soon as possible. Assessing him day-by-day to see how he improves. If he feels good then we take decisions."

• Nuno emphasised the work done over the international break with the players who remained with the club has been "positive".

• On balancing an FA Cup run with the Premier League relegation battle: "We play and prepare for one game at a time. We are preparing for the FA Cup as best as we can so we can go through. We cannot think about the Wolves game. First we play the game against Leeds, preparing well, competing well and then move forward."

• What would it mean to lead West Ham to their first FA Cup semi-final in 20 years?: "We have to play the game. It's always the same. We know what it means for our fans, it has been great for us to play at home. We expect support, we know it is a big night. Let's enjoy it and play."

• More on the fans: "We know they are going to be there for us. The help from the fans to the team has been great. We cannot thank them enough."

• On the defeat at Elland Road earlier this season: "It's been a while, both teams have changed a lot. We know it will be difficult but that game is too far away to analyse. We learn from experiences, there is always something to take on board to try and ratify."

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We asked for your views on which is more important to you, FA Cup glory or Premier League status?

Here are some of your comments:

Rob: I believe we can do both. But for me the FA Cup will be amazing. The Premier League will always be there, and if we do get relegated we will be back. We aren't contenders for the league title, but win the cup, get relegated and win the Championship next season. I would be OK with that.

Mike: Very simple order of preference. 1: Stay in the Premier League. 2: Send Spurs down instead. 3: Add a little icing to to the top of the cake with a cheeky lifting of the FA Cup.

Conor: It surely has to be Premier League survival. What's an FA Cup worth to us in the Championship?

Ray: Premier survival is paramount. Give fringe players the chance to improve in the cup. Play with abandon.

James: Putting finance over a cup win here but staying in the Premier League is and must be the priority and if an FA Cup win goes in tandem with that then fantastic!

Tim: Give the FA Cup as much of an effort as possible. Don't mess with Mr In-between or you end up regretting not giving it a go.

John: League survival, it's that simple. When/if we go down then it won't be a quick recovery back to the Premier League. It will be a fire sale of any player assets and Sullivan will still want £600M to sell up. Dream on.

Mike: Go out to win FA cup. Wins give you momentum which we have at the moment. Players can get injured at home, etc. Keep the same team playing, win the cup and stay up - Europe next year.

Holly Turbutt
Fan contributor

As we approach the FA Cup quarter-final, the same question keeps coming up.

Would West Ham fans choose FA Cup glory or Premier League survival? And it's a difficult one because we'd all love something to celebrate right now, but the question is - at what cost?

So this is the first time that a lot of fans, including myself, could see an FA Cup win. And as fans, this is the kind of moment that we live for.

We all remember the joy that the Conference League win brought us, even if it was followed by some disappointing seasons. But I'd argue that focusing too much on the FA Cup right now is pretty likely to get us relegated and bring a whole new level of misery.

We don't have a huge amount of squad rotation we can do without weakening our side, and if we end up getting injuries or playing tired players in the Premier League, that could be the fine margin that ends up sending us down, which scares me.

We've already seen Crysencio Summerville, who we expected to play a key role in our battle to stay up, get injured in the FA Cup so we've seen how these extra games can put us at risk of losing essential players.

So weighing up the pros and cons of each, I would be so happy to see us push for an FA Cup win, but I don't think we can run the risk of our starting XI just being knackered and dropping points in the league as a result.

I would love to see us try to balance the two, but I don't think we've got the luxury of doing anything at the expense of Premier League survival at the moment, so that means Nuno Espirito Santo has a big job on his hands to rotate our squad in a way that keeps us competitive in the FA Cup, while also giving players enough rest for our Premier League survival push.

It's all about focusing on staying up at the moment and if we can manage to progress in the FA Cup too, that would be an incredible highlight in what's been a rather stressful season.

We want your views on this subject too - which is more important to you, FA Cup glory or Premier League status?

Get in touch with your views here

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