It's the hope that always kills you. Just as West Ham fans feel the impending doom of relegation being sealed, more dropped points by their London rivals gives back that glimmer of hope that maybe the great escape is still on. It's a relegation battle neither team can pull away from.
A side that should have been dead and buried back in January, hurtling towards the second tier for the first time in 15 years, were handed renewed hope in the form of Leeds United, who held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw on Monday night. It leaves the sides separated by two points with two games to play.
Post-Arsenal blues
The result came one day after the Hammers' battling performance at home to Arsenal. West Ham were denied a precious point in the cruellest of ways against a team who have easily brushed aside their London Stadium hosts too many times in recent years. In the desperate face of adversity, all we wanted was the fans and players to give absolutely everything. And they did.
We gave our all, yet it still wasn't enough. It felt like a final nail in the coffin of one of the more prolonged seasons us fans have had to endure, one that began with a crushing 3-0 defeat at Sunderland back in August under Graham Potter.
Even more ironically, the game took place 10 years to the exact day of one of the rare historic nights, bidding farewell to Upton Park with a dramatic 3-2 victory over Manchester United. A decade since a huge part of the clubs identity was stripped away under the promise of Champions League football within five years.
⬇️ "If we go down, it's not because of the [Raya] foul!"
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) May 13, 2026
🤦♂️ "We're gonna go down because of decisions made over the last 2/3/5 years!"
James Corden opens up about why he thinks #WHUFC are on the brink of being relegated! 😫 pic.twitter.com/nmxK5GwrhI
Feelings have been made clear from all corners about Callum Wilson’s disallowed goal. The PGMOL’s lack of consistency set up a desperate scenario that even caused 'Match Of The Day' to bring an emergency ex-referee into the studio.
A season of questions
A huge ’what if’ moment in the season affecting both ends of the table. This campaign, however, has been full of those moments for the East London side, a fair portion of those self-inflicted.
What if Nuno didn't experiment with odd line-ups in his first month in charge? What if we hadn’t conceded all those late equalisers? What if Mateus Fernandes had converted that simple one-on-one chance against David Raya on Sunday afternoon?
The same passionate all-out performance against Arsenal was desperately needed against the likes of Brentford and Crystal Palace, the type of games that are more likely to determine your fate over the course of a season.
Penulimate showdown
Looking ahead, both West Ham and Tottenham face tricky away trips before final day home deciders. While fans seek to find the smallest of advantages that may swing the pendulum in their favour, things are generally in the balance. Roberto De Zerbi's team have the points and goal difference to their benefit, leading to the fact that everything is in their own hands, with four points being enough to ensure survival.
Tottenham Hotspur are favourites to secure Premier League survival but do West Ham have the kinder run-in? 👀✍️
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 13, 2026
Sky Sports’ Nick Wright takes a deeper dive into the battle at the bottom of the table. pic.twitter.com/UFq1tGxNOm
However, with games versus Chelsea and Everton, they face two tests against sides still competing for Europe at this moment in time. Nuno Espirito Santo's side will rely on slip-ups, although they do play Newcastle and Leeds, both teams with nothing to play for, aside from some end of season pride.
The Hammers' recent trips to the North-East will give them some optimism too. They have won two of their last four away games at Newcastle, including the most recent one back in November 2024. Goals from Lucas Paqueta and Tomas Soucek also helped West Ham to a win in this season's return fixture at the London Stadium.
Keeping the belief
The narrative of the season must change in the next fortnight if West Ham are to retain their place in the 2026/27 Premier League. With Tottenham heading to Chelsea on Tuesday week, another opportunity flourishes for the East London side to land a physiological blow and really put the pressure on, something they have failed to capitalise on in recent weeks.
Tomáš Souček gives his reaction to tonight's result ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/svIcRwt8SA
— West Ham United (@WestHam) May 10, 2026
Speaking to whufc.com, midfielder Mateus Fernandes called for belief.
"We fought for every ball and for every duel and we showed a lot of spirit against Arsenal,” said Fernandes. “It was incredible on the pitch. We felt every moment the effort of the team.
Now we have to look forward, to rest, to sleep well and try to recover to play against Newcastle because we need to win that game. I think, first of all, we need to look at the game and take confidence from the fact we played well against the first team in this league, so if we can compete against these teams, we can compete against all the teams in this league.
It gives confidence to my teammates, to the Club, because we can do it. There are still games to play and points to take and we need to believe until the end because there are two games and things can change very quick.”.
Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos echoed the call that the team must keep going.
“From our side we just have to keep going and perform as we did on Sunday because we showed a great performance and this is what we have to do in the last few games as well. We are in a very difficult situation because it’s not in our hands.
In the remaining games, the only thing we have to do is keep working like we do, working with each other we can get the best results from the last two games and after that, we will see where we will be.”
