Former Premier League winning striker Chris Sutton has disagreed with ex-Arsenal star Paul Merson in his score prediction for West Ham’s trip to Fulham.
The Hammers head across London to take on the Cottagers on Saturday afternoon, entering the weekend 15th in the table and only clear of the relegation zone via goal difference.
West Ham’s six-match unbeaten home record in 2023 ended in catastrophic circumstances on Wednesday night after suffering a 5-1 defeat to Newcastle United at the London Stadium.
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That crushing home defeat will come as a blow for the Hammers, having picked up just six points from a possible 39 in their 13 away league matches so far this season.
In his pre-match score prediction for Sportskeeda, Merson, who was a top-flight and FA Cup winner with Arsenal as a player, said that he expects Fulham to record a 2-0 win, despite missing star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and manager Marco Silva, with both banned after being sent off their FA Cup loss to Manchester United last month.
“West Ham are struggling badly at the moment,” said Merson. “I don't think they were great in their victory against Southampton, but the result did paper over the cracks. They were out of their depth at home against Newcastle.
“Fulham are going to miss Mitrovic, but they have been pretty impressive this season. West Ham are all over the place at the moment, and I'm going to back Fulham to win this game.”
However, giving his thoughts ahead of the game, one-time England international and 1994/95 Premier League winning striker Sutton disagreed with Merson’s thoughts.
He thinks that while West Ham have been poor away from home all season, he does not see them leaving Craven Cottage empty handed, predicting a 1-1 draw.
“This is difficult to call because we don't know where Fulham will go from here,” Sutton told BBC Sport .
“They have lost three games in a row in the league, are one of the few top-flight teams who don't really have much to play for, and they are also going to be without their top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic for the next few weeks because of his long ban.
“West Ham's away results have been poor all season - along with Forest, they have the joint-worst record on the road of one win and three draws from 13 games so far, and their game in hand is at Manchester City, which is hardly going to help them much.
“So this feels enormous for them, particularly because they are one of four teams on 27 points. At the moment, the Hammers' goal difference is better than the teams below them but losing heavily to Newcastle took a big chunk out of that, and obviously City could do even more damage.
“David Moyes' side really need to get something here, after the manner of that defeat by the Magpies, but I am not convinced they will manage a win.
“Fulham capitulated against Bournemouth last weekend, so they need a reaction in front of their own fans, to show their season is not going to just drift from here."
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