West Ham 2017/18 season preview: Will new summer signings inspire the Hammers?

Will West Ham’s new summer signings inspire their season? Read our 2017/18 season preview with expert views from Soccer Saturday pundit Charlie Nicholas.

Finishing position: 11th (-4)

Total points: 45 (-17)
Key stat: Home form was the bedrock for West Ham as they finished seventh in their final season at Upton Park. By contrast, erratic results at the London Stadium blighted their first term in their new surroundings as they took 25 points there, following 34 at the Boleyn a campaign earlier. Slaven Bilic’s team were often frustrated, losing 22 points from winning positions.

Major ins: Pablo Zabaleta (free), Joe Hart (Man City, loan), Marko Arnautovic (Stoke, £25m), Javier Hernandez (Bayer Leverkusen, £16m).

Major outs: Darren Randolph (Middlesbrough, £5m), Reece Oxford (Borussia Monchengladbach, loan), Havard Nordtveit (Hoffenheim, £8m), Enner Valencia (Tigres, undisclosed), Ashley Fletcher (Middlesbrough, £6.5m).
CHARLIE NICHOLAS’ VIEW

Can new signings help West Ham kick on?

NICHOLAS: Well Slaven Bilic has gone for more of ready-made summer signings. Robert Snodgrass didn’t really fit in and neither did Jose Fonte but he’s gone with the same approach with Hernandez, Zabaleta, Arnautovic and Hart.

Hart is a big bonus. There were a lot of mistakes at the back and if he can get them organised then they’ll improve a lot, but I do think they need somebody else at the back, they can’t keep relying on James Collins to come in.
Which of their players are you most excited about watching?

NICHOLAS: What is it that’s going to make the big difference to West Ham? For me, it is Hart. A goalkeeper who is used to challenging for titles is a big boost for them. Against the bigger teams he’ll make a big difference, when the big saves are there to make. He’ll be relishing those games.

Chicharito could score a lot of goals if they create enough chances, but that’s a big ‘if’, especially with Manuel Lanzini being too inconsistent.
What are the challenges facing the manager this season?

NICHOLAS: He can’t afford another season like last one. Too many things went wrong and the club will demand more order this time round.

What are their strengths?

NICHOLAS: I think the strength will be what they had to go through last season. The change of the stadium, the defensive sloppiness, the tough decisions which Bilic had to make.
They wanted to challenge the top six but they ended up closer to the bottom three but they’ve had a season to bed into the new stadium and I think you’ll see them with more of a purpose this season.

They should be stronger because of what they learnt from last season.

What are their weaknesses?
NICHOLAS: They need to be harder to beat. They were thrashed too many times last season, especially in London. It was embarrassing how they turned up against Tottenham to stop them winning the title because that sort of performance was so uncharacteristic given the way they rolled over against the other top sides.

Where will they finish this season and why?

NICHOLAS: Unless Bilic adds some more players and keeps Winston Reid, I still see too many weakness. I don’t see them finishing above 10th.

Back West Ham at odds of 4/7 with Sky Bet to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League table.Euro Soccer Bonus

Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.

This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.

The maximum bonus that you can receive is €100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.

If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:

Bet Type Bonus

14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus €100,000 or currency equivalent. Euro Soccer Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.

If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.

If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.

Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.

In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.

All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.

bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.