West Ham drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace on Monday and, with Spurs also dropping points in a draw with Brighton that extended their Premier League winless run to 15 games, sit two points above Tottenham in 17th with five games remaining.
El Hadji Malick Diouf, one of West Ham's players, said the group have a simple focus: "We’ve come so far. It was really difficult at the beginning of the season, but I think we are back, so we have to keep that." He underlined the urgency—"We have that in our hands, so we have to keep that and try to make a good result every time"—and insisted "Now every game is a final, so we don’t have to think."
The numbers make clear why the draw still feels like a take for West Ham. They have lost one of their last five Premier League games, and since Callum Wilson’s 93rd-minute strike in January gave them a 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium they have managed five wins and three losses from 12 games, averaging 1.6 points per game after a poor run that produced just 0.7 points per game beforehand.
Those gains matter because the relegation picture has narrowed. Wolves have already been relegated and Burnley are set to follow, leaving a dogfight between a small group of clubs; Leeds sit eight points clear of the drop zone and Nottingham Forest five points clear, making the scrap over the remaining fixtures increasingly focused on West Ham and Spurs. Diouf noted the immediate payoff of recent results, saying West Ham had taken four points from their last two matches and now sit three points clear of the drop.
Tension is threaded through the weekend fixtures. Spurs travel to Wolves on Saturday while West Ham return home to face Everton, and managers and pundits are already framing the run-in as a melee. Nuno Espirito Santo warned plainly: "It's going to be a fight until the end." Roberto De Zerbi added, "they can win their last five games in a row," a reminder that little is settled in the table even with a handful of fixtures left.
Commentary has underlined how form, fixture list and momentum can still tilt the balance. Jamie Carragher said of the recent tactical shifts and performances: "There's no doubt De Zerbi has had an impact in terms of the performances." He added sharp disbelief about winning droughts—"They haven't won a Premier League game since December, it's unbelievable"—and cautioned about visiting Wolves, arguing in effect that legs and set-ups can make away trips awkward: "I can't see them losing the game and they could nick it, of course they could, but I've seen other teams go there and find it difficult at Wolves with the way they set up."
The clearest tension for West Ham is this: their January win at Tottenham began a measurable recovery, yet the margin above the drop is porous and every match now carries amplified consequence. With five games remaining, a single swing—an injury, a closed-door stalemate, a last-minute goal—will have outsized impact on who survives. Diouf closed on a forward-looking note that also sounds like a verdict: "We have to take it also game by game. I think it’s also important." That approach, not optimism alone, will decide whether Westham finish this season in the safe half of the table or still in a fight on the final day.
