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Premier League pundit Chris Sutton remains concerned about West Ham United’s survival chances ahead of Monday’s clash with Crystal Palace.
On Monday night, Crystal Palace versus West Ham United rounds off the Premier League weekend.
By the time that kicks off, West Ham will know if they have slipped back into the bottom three.
Who makes YOUR West Ham and Crystal Palace combined XI?
While West Ham are slight favourites to stay up ahead of Tottenham, the margins remain tight and there is little room for slip-ups.
For that reason, Sutton is slightly worried for the Irons.
Sutton thinks that West Ham look nervous
Writing in his BBC Sport column while predicting a 1-1 draw, Sutton expressed concern that West Ham looked so nervous against Wolves last time out.
While Nuno’s side did record a huge 4-0 victory in the end, Sutton thinks there was a nervousness about them before they took the lead.
He wrote: “This is a big game for West Ham and, by the time they play it, they will know how all of their relegation rivals got on over the weekend.
How many points are we getting then? 
Feel free to tell me where I’m going wrong 
“As well as being important, this is a tough game for the Hammers too. Crystal Palace left it very late to beat Newcastle but they have now taken seven points from their past three games and seem to have found some form again.
“The Eagles are safe but I am still a little bit worried about West Ham. Yes they played well against Wolves last time out, but they were very nervy until they took the lead.
“This is going to be tense for them too. I don’t say this about many of my predictions, but I am pretty certain about how this will end up – with the points shared.”
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Sutton is right, to an extent. Every game is going to be fairly nervous, such are the consequences of the relegation battle.
A draw at Palace might be considered a good result in some circles, given their impressive record against the Irons in recent seasons. It might not get the juices flowing, but West Ham simply cannot be concerned about whatever Spurs do in the run-in.
They are not in this position because of Tottenham’s failings. Rather, they are in it because of their own impressive form since mid-January.
As such, they cannot be concerned about who is in the relegation zone at any given time until the very last knockings of the campaign. Being out of it in April does not mean much.
The fact that Palace are arguably focusing on the Conference League right now is also a significant boost for the Irons. Hopefully, they rotate their options and go all in on their European dream.
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