4 EPL teams who could face a relegation battle in 2018/19

#4: West Ham United

West Ham defender Fabian Balbuena has already come under fire for a poor performance this weekend

After a tumultuous season in 2017/18 that saw West Ham replace manager Slaven Bilic with David Moyes and end up finishing in a respectable 13th place despite a lot of fan unrest surrounding the leadership of owners David Gold and David Sullivan, Hammers supporters were given reason to believe in the summer of 2018.

The unpopular Moyes was replaced by former Premier League-winning boss Manuel Pellegrini, and over £100m was spent to bring in new talent, including wingers Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko, as well as Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere. Unfortunately though, despite all the signings, it looks like the same old problems are already beginning to surface.

A 4-0 defeat to Liverpool on the opening weekend of the season was followed on Saturday by a disappointing 1-2 loss to Bournemouth in a game that saw West Ham take an early lead. In both games, defensive frailties were to blame for the defeats – the Hammers allowed Bournemouth 12 shots on goal despite only giving them 39% of possession, and at times their defence looked frighteningly open, with poor offside traps giving the Cherries chances again and again.

Given they conceded a shocking 68 goals last season – the same amount as relegated Stoke – you’d have thought Pellegrini would’ve looked to shore up their defence, but new signing Issa Diop hasn’t started a game yet, while Fabian Balbuena has already come under fire for his poor showing against Bournemouth. That game saw Hammers fans walk out early, and while Pellegrini has called for patience, it’s easy to see a situation where they slip into trouble as the season goes on.