West Ham's Alarming Slump Meets a Middlesbrough Side With Serious Questions to Answer

Tuesday night at the London Stadium. West Ham United host Middlesbrough in the EFL Championship. One team is in freefall. The other is inconsistent in a way that should worry their supporters. Neither side is convincing right now. That makes this fixture awkward to call and entirely watchable.

West Ham: The Basics Are Gone

Let me be blunt about West Ham. One win from five in the Championship is unacceptable. Full stop. The form string reads LDLLW and that W came first, against Swansea. Everything since has been poor.

West Ham lost to Blackburn, lost to West Brom, lost to Southampton. They drew 3-3 with Cardiff City, which sounds entertaining until you remember that keeping a clean sheet is one of the basics of this game. West Ham have kept just one clean sheet in those five matches. They have conceded eleven goals. Eleven. That is not a defensive system under pressure. That is a defence that has lost its standards.

The thing is, when you are shipping goals at that rate at home, confidence drains fast. Players stop competing for the full ninety minutes. You can see it happening. It becomes a habit and habits at this level are very hard to break.

West Ham also have a long-term absentee on the injury list. That does not help but it is not an excuse. You compete with what you have.

Middlesbrough: Better But Not Convincing

Middlesbrough have done more with their recent run. Two wins and two draws from five is a decent return on paper. Beating Charlton 3-0 and Bolton Wanderers 5-1 are results you notice. But the same five matches also include a 0-2 defeat to Wrexham and a 0-0 draw with Watford. The goals-against column across those five sits at five, which is respectable. Middlesbrough have kept clean sheets in two of those five matches.

Listen, that 5-1 against Bolton and the 3-0 against Charlton will have people excited. I am less excited. I want to know what Middlesbrough do when the opposition has a go at them. The Wrexham defeat suggests there are questions still to be answered.

Middlesbrough also arrive with three players out through injury, two of them absent since October and one since September. That is a significant chunk of their squad unavailable. Depth gets tested in these situations and how a team responds tells you everything about their attitude and their squad culture.

What Decides This Match

The thing is, West Ham at home with a crowd behind them are still dangerous. They have scored eight goals in those five matches. They can hurt you. But they also cannot stop conceding and that is the core problem.

Middlesbrough's recent away form across those five results has been mixed. They drew 2-2 at Cardiff City and lost at Wrexham. Away from home is a different test. Can they come to a ground where West Ham need a result badly and compete for ninety minutes? That is the question.

Accountability is what I am looking for from West Ham's back line on Tuesday night. Someone has to stand up and decide that the goals stop here. If that does not happen, Middlesbrough will find spaces and West Ham's night will get difficult very quickly.

The Verdict

West Ham need this more than Middlesbrough do. That cuts both ways. Desperation can produce a performance or it can produce panic. The last five results suggest panic is closer to the surface right now. Middlesbrough are not setting the world on fire but they look like a more stable outfit heading into this one. I expect goals. I do not expect a clean sheet from West Ham. If Middlesbrough keep their shape and stay compact, they can get something from this.