Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
There are going to be a fair few dead rubbers taking place this afternoon and this game will be one of them. That of course is not meant to discredit either Burnley or West Ham as it should be viewed as testament to their season and the mid table security that they have both already earned.
That is probably a position that is more impressive for Burnley than it is West Ham but Slaven Bilic must also be relieved that his side found an element of move at the start of the new year which alloweed them to pull clear of the bottom three.
Today at Turf Moor sees 15th play host to 12th while a win for Burnley could still see them leapfrog their East London counterparts. Credit has to go to Sean Dyche for making sure his players have never really been involved in a relegation battle this season.
A lot of that has to go down to their impressive home form, many teams have come away empty handed from this ground and to a certain degree Burnley will have to be thankful that there home form was so strong as they have won a solitary game on the road.
Last weekend saw them make the long journey down to the South Coast as they went to head to head with Bournemouth a game in which they were minutes away from earning a point only to see the in form Josh King score the winner in 2-1 victory for Eddie Howe’s side.
Burnley go up against a West Ham side who looked very abject last Sunday as Liverpool handed out a crushing 4-0 victory at the London Stadium. After the win over Tottenham the week before it seemed as if The Hammers have blown their load that night and were more on the beach than on the pitch last weekend.
Philippe Coutinho was the man of the match and rightfully so, his precision tore apart two lines of West Ham’s defensive setup and left James Collins all at sea. By that point Daniel Sturridge had latched onto the ball and seconds later the ball was in the back of the net.
West Ham’s only glimmer of hope was when Andre Ayew was presented with a guilt edged opportunity just before the break. Although how the Ghanaian conspired to miss not one but twice from just a yard out is still even at this point beyond me.
That was as good as it got for West Ham as it certainly got worse with three more unanswered goals after the break to give Liverpool a resounding win. In fairness the result should not come as too much of a surprise as West Ham do not seem capable of stringing two decent performances together especially at this time of the season.
The result would have put a bit of pressure on Slaven Bilic as a poor finish to the end of the campaign means that if they do not start the next one well then questions will begin to be asked regarding his managerial status. But a solid transfer window and some fully fit players can help him in that regard.
There is really not a lot to play for this afternoon, West Ham could still mathematically get into the top half of the table but it would take quite the combination of results. Truth be told I can see Burnley ending their season with a flourish in front of their own fans. A home win for me.
