How many points is enough - and where are they going to come from?
It has been 20 years since West Ham took the unwanted - and still standing - record of the highest points tally ever to be relegated from the Premier League.
A haul of 42 points would’ve been enough to finish 15th last season and David Moyes would surely snap your hand off for that this term, but it did not keep the 2002/03 Irons in the top-flight.
This time around, nothing like that number - nor even the fabled 40-point mark - is likely to be needed to secure Premier League status, which is just as well for the Hammers, who sit 18th on 24 points with only 12 games left to play. Just four points split Southampton in 20th and Crystal Palace in 12th in what can only be described as a Royal Rumble of a relegation scrap, the sheer number of teams involved means a relatively low bar for survival is likely to be set.
Whether Moyes’s side have it in them to even clear that, however, remains to be seen. West Ham have the joint-worst away record in the division and Moyes has stressed that the club’s six remaining home games will be vital to their hopes, so it is not ideal that those matches include the visits of Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle.
The likelihood is that Moyes’ men will have to add to their sole League victory on the road when they travel to the likes of Crystal Palace, Leicester and Bournemouth for relegation six-pointers.
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