West Ham Premier League Odds: Irons could be stagnating

West Ham United are heading into the new Premier League season hoping to build on last term's 14th-place finish, a drop off from their ninth-place finish under David Moyes the year before.

Julen Lopetegui's short stint was an unmitigated disaster and Graham Potter is the man in charge currently, but still question marks remain over whether he can be a success at the London Stadium. Below I have put forward my predictions for their upcoming campaign using Betfred's West Ham Premier League Odds.

Potter is a man looking to rebuild his reputation in the game after his spell at Chelsea was a complete failure. West Ham have put faith in him to be the person that will get them back pushing for European football year-on-year, but given the current structure at the club, it's going to be difficult.

A lot of the supporters are fed up with David Sullivan's ownership of the club and are desperate for some fresh investment to help the Irons reach their full potential. The Hammers have made some signings this summer and some do appear to be eye-catching, but given some of the business their rivals have conducted, supporters feel as though they should be doing more.

Premier League Odds

Lucas Paqueta has been cleared of his gambling charges and there are murmurs that he could be moving on to pastures new this summer. West Ham have already lost Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham Hotspur, while several first-team players have been let go in the summer.

It leaves Potter needing to rebuild his squad ahead of another tough Premier League season on paper, and West Ham cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

Transfer Business:

In: Jean-Clair Todibo (£36.3m, Nice), El Hadji Malick Diouf (£19m, Slavia Prague), Mads Hermansen (£19m, Leicester City), Kyle Walker-Peters (free, Southampton) and Callum Wilson (free, Newcastle United).

Out: Mohammed Kudus (£55m, Tottenham Hotspur), Vladimir Coufal (free, Hoffenheim), Aaron Cresswell (free, Stoke City), Kaelan Casey (loan, Swansea City), Kurt Zouma, Danny Ings, Lukasz Fabianski and Michail Antonio (all released).

West Ham have made Jean-Clair Todibo's loan move permanent and there's hope that he will have a lot more to offer now the London Stadium has become his permanent home.

Malick Diouf is an exciting signing at wing-back, with the player impressing at Slavia Prague. He is a huge upgrade in this position, which is key to Potter's 3-4-3 system.

Kyle Walker-Peters is a tidy pick-up on a free transfer, having been one of Southampton's best players for a number of years. I'm not so thrilled about the free signing of forward Callum Wilson, though. His goalscoring record at this level is good but he's 33 years of age now and is constantly blighted by injuries.

After their recent injury problems with Michail Antonio and Niclas Fullkrug, this feels like a risky move for the Hammers, who are in need of more firepower to stave off any fears of relegation.

Mads Hermansen is a shrewd bit of business from Leicester City and he is the perfect profile of goalkeeper for Potter's style of play.

Football Odds

Key Player: Jarrod Bowen

The key to West Ham's success this season centres around Jarrod Bowen. He is their beam of hope. Their source of inspiration and the person they can depend upon in front of goals.

He may not be a recognised striker but he often played up front last term because of injuries and him being the best goalscorer in the team. The England international has posted three double-digit hauls in the Premier League for the Hammers in the past four seasons.

The attacker struck 13 times last year and he will be hoping to improve on that this time around. Given the current feeling around West Ham, the worst thing that could happen is Bowen leaves during the transfer window, or he picks up an injury during the season.

The idea that this would leave the new recruit Wilson as their only fit striker is troubling, so Bowen staying fit is essential for West Ham to try and progress in 2025/26.

Prediction: 14th

If Potter can get his system drilled into his squad over pre-season and the early months of the campaign, they should be clear of relegation trouble, but I wouldn't expect much more than that.

It feels like it would be a stabilising season, one for the players to get to grips with their new style and one thing holding them back from accomplishing more this season is the severe lack of firepower in attacking areas.

The Irons have been far too reliant on Bowen in recent years and thankfully he has delivered for them on a regular basis. However, it's unfair on him because his talents should really be in a team pushing for Europe year-on-year, and he is currently not getting the support he needs or deserves.

Wilson and Fullkrug are goalscorers on paper but their injury records are terrible. For as long as Bowen is the only fit prolific goalscorer in the team, West Ham can't hope for anything more than lower mid-table.

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