The Premier League relegation battle doesn’t usually explode in one weekend. It builds quietly, week after week, until you check the table and the space you thought you had is gone.
As of January 10, with 21 games played, the bottom five were starting to look familiar: Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
West Ham’s presence in the mix certainly raised eyebrows. They were 18th with 14 points, with Nuno Espírito Santo trying to revive West Ham’s season after a bad start under Graham Potter, which led to his sacking.
It didn’t read like a reset.
It read like a club trying to stop the bleeding and find a path for a West Ham relegation escape before it was too late.
The gap in front of them only made it feel worse. Forest were seven points clear, and this was not a team supposed to be scanning over its shoulder after finishing in a European place last season. Leeds were eight points ahead with a form that suggested it would only get better.
A month later, West Ham have turned the whole thing into a fight. Nine points from the last 12 have taken them up to 23 points.
Forest, who are sitting on 26 points, just three points above West Ham, are slowly seeing the nerves kick in.
With West Ham charging closer to them at a rapid rate, Nottingham Forest, in 17th place, are starting to feel like the warning signs are coming closer to them.
West Ham’s Late Surge: Not Pretty But Effective
West Ham still aren’t a slick, possession-based side.
What they’ve done is embrace the unpleasant parts of survival football. You can see the squad settling into what Nuno Espirito Santo wants: stay compact, make it awkward, and don’t lose your head just because you’re chasing the ball, a system that was familiar to him while he was at Forest.
That comfort without the ball is exactly why West Ham’s late charge has looked sustainable rather than lucky.
Their numbers tell the story. West Ham average 42.7% possession, one of the lowest in the league, only second to Burnley, but lately it has looked less like a problem and more like a plan. They’ll let teams have the ball in safe areas, then squeeze the space when it matters.
It’s not sitting back and hoping, but rather a structure, and it’s giving the West Ham relegation escape talk some real substance.
That’s why the run feels real. They’ve tightened up, they’re winning more duels, clearing their lines, and making their moments count. When you’re living inside a relegation fight, those are the details that turn one decent result into a run, and one run into belief.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka fits the shift perfectly. The defending is still his base, but his influence has grown inside this setup.
He’s winning his battles, stepping in early, and giving West Ham an outlet when they finally break forward, which matters even more in a team built to absorb and spring.
Then there’s Crysencio Summerville, who has taken the surge up a level. Five straight games of scoring is the sort of streak that changes the mood around a team.
Against Burnley, in a match of utmost importance in the Premier League relegation battle, he did it again, put them in front early, and made the rest of the game easier to manage.
Solid first, then strike when the chance shows up. That’s the cleanest snapshot of West Ham’s late charge: simple, sharp, and ruthless when the moment arrives.
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Premier League Relegation Battle: The Nuno Effect
This doesn’t feel like a lucky spell.
West Ham look like they’re repeating something. The plan is simple enough: stop conceding easy goals, stay in games, then pick your moments to hurt teams.
They are not trying to keep the ball for show. They are trying to keep matches tight, then steal the edge when the game opens, which is often exactly how a West Ham relegation escape is built.
The last four league games underline it.
A 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur, a 3-1 win over Sunderland, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Chelsea, and then a 2-0 win over Burnley.
Three wins from four, and the performances have followed the same shape: compact without the ball, calm under pressure, then sharp when chances appear.
In a relegation scrap, repeating a plan is half the battle. West Ham are finally doing that, and it’s why West Ham’s late charge has changed the mood around the bottom.
Forest In The Crosshairs: 17th Place Is Not Safety, It Is A Trap
This is where 17th stops feeling like “we’re fine” and starts feeling like danger waiting for one more mistake.
Forest are in a slump at the worst time. Three wins, two draws and five losses in their last 10 league games is 11 points from 30, and that’s the kind of form that drags you into trouble, no matter what your season was meant to be.
Leeds beating them 3-1 only hammered home how thin the margins are right now in the scrap at the bottom.
With West Ham closing fast, Forest are only three points above the relegation zone, and that’s the trap.
You’re safe until the next bad result proves you aren’t. When the table reads Nottingham Forest in 17th place, it doesn’t take much for the pressure to change the football too: one hesitant pass, one rushed clearance, one game that suddenly feels like it can’t be lost.
The Cruellest Subplot: Nuno vs His Past
The edge to this story is obvious. The man driving West Ham forward is the same man Forest once backed.
Nuno didn’t leave Nottingham Forest on warm terms. It ended quickly and awkwardly, and both sides tried to move on. Now he’s rebuilding in the scrap and noise, and West Ham are starting to look like a team that knows how to get through this kind of fight.
If West Ham pulls this off, there’s a real chance the team they push under is Nuno’s old one. Not through one dramatic moment, but through the slow grind of pressure, panic, and a club in 17th, realising the drop zone is right beside them now.
That’s the cruel part of the Premier League relegation battle: you don’t just save yourself, you often have to push a team off the cliff in doing so.
Premier League relegation battles don’t care about sentiment, but football loves a storyline, and this one is simple: Nuno isn’t just trying to save West Ham, as he might be the reason Forest goes under.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO/Action Plus
Recording Date: 07.02.2026
