West Ham

West Ham's Final Premier League Position: 11th

This Premier League Review sees West Ham's season assessed, with the Hammers enjoying a tough season.

Slaven Bilic's side came into the season on the back of a 7th placed finish, an incredible debut season for the Croatian.

It was the best finish for West Ham for some time, with Bilic's style of football proving to be very popular with the fans.

The challenge for West Ham is to produce that type of finish every season, especially given they now have a brand new stadium.

Slaven Bilic has done an excellent job at the club, he was severely hampered by the new stadium and the Dimitri Payet saga.

The calibre of teams in the league is incredible, although a top ten finish was the minimum requirement for the Hammers.

Tough Start

West Ham endured a tough start to the season, playing Chelsea and Manchester City in their opening matches.

They won just two of their opening 8 Premier League matches, they also crashed out of the Europa League preliminary stages.

They lost 17 matches in total the same as West Brom, and one more than both the sides above them, Southampton and Bournemouth.

Bilic and the board will be looking to improve on this season, with the club needing to recruit heavily to better this campaign.

With the sides around them looking to strengthen during the summer it is vital that the Hammers do the same.

Bilic's side registered 12 wins during the course of the season, level pegging with seven other sides.

They finished 48 points behind Antonio Conte's side, registering under half of their total points.

Cup Failures

West Ham have had a mixed run in the cups this season, beating Chelsea in the early stages of the EFL Cup.

They lost against Manchester United 4-1 in the next round though, and they were soundly beaten by Manchester City 5-0.

The Hammers definitely have room for improvement in this category, although their league position will continue to be the priority.

Top Stats

Michail Antonio enjoyed a breakthrough season, ending as the club's top Premier League scorer with 9 goals and 3 assists.

Despite leaving halfway through the season Dimitri Payet proved his worth, ending with the most assists (6).

Andy Carroll won the most aerial battles up top with 164, and Cheikou Kouyate won the most tackles (76).

Winston Reid had an excellent season with the most clearances (244) and the most interceptions (82).

Their final points tally was 45, that was 2 points better than last season, finishing four places higher.

Overall it's an excellent season due to their top ten finish, they will be targeting a far better performance in the domestic cups though.

Transfer Speculation

Slaven Bilic will have a huge job on his hands, and he will need quality reinforcements to do so.

The main issue for West Brom has been defensively, they will need to buy high-quality players to progress.

They have been linked with moves for Joe Hart & Javier Hernandez, who are both high-class players with Premier League experience.

The Hammers have also been linked with want-away Stoke forward Marko Arnautovic.

Betting Tips

To win the 17/18 Premier League outright @ 500/1

A Top Ten Finish @ 13/8

To win the Carabao Cup 17/18 @ 28/1

To win the FA Cup 17/18 @ 33/1

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