What’s happened to the West Ham we all know and love?

Who cares, hopefully it remains in the past as this new West Ham we’re getting to know takes over over and continues to defy all the odds every week.

After 29 games played we currently sit fifth in the Premier League and just a single point off the top four. Yep, I can’t believe it either.

The way in which we beat Everton on Saturday epitomised exactly how far we’ve come in such a short space of time. A West Ham team of old would’ve crumbled and lost that game, but instead we fought our way back from 2-0 down to net three goals in the final 12 minutes to take all three points. Incredible.

And with nine league games remaining, hopes and dreams of an unlikely top four finish are justified. Man City do have a game in hand, but should they lose that then you’d have to give us a pretty good chance of sneaking in there come May. How amazing would that be?

However, we’ve got some pretty big games to play between now and the end of the campaign and what we do in them will either make or break our chances of a securing Champions League football (I can’t believe I’m actually writing this!)

CLICK HERE TO REVEAL

Chelsea (a)

Chelsea are enjoying a new lease of life under Interim boss Guus Hiddink and are beginning to climb their way up the table and should now mount a challenge for a top six finish at the very least.

We’ve already beaten them once this season and we’ve got a very record away from home against the big clubs, so we should have enough about us to take something away from Stamford Bridge.

By doing so, we’ll be keeping the Blues at arms length below us while also keeping the pace with those above us.

Prediction: Draw

Arsenal (h)

At the time of writing, we’re only a three points behind third placed Arsenal, and you have to fancy us against them at home.

We kicked our season off in style by winning 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium back in August and by securing a huge double over them could also put us in contention of finishing in third. Crazy.

Win this and we could well be on our way to making history.

Prediction: Win

Leicester City (a)

If it weren’t for Leicester’s incredible title challenge it’s fair to say more people will be walking about our incredible challenge for the top four. Instead we’re slipping under the radar a little, which many will be pretty pleased about.

As things stand, this fixture is probably our toughest in the final run-in but even getting a point at the King Power Stadium will keep us well in the race up the chasing pack – and we’re certainly good enough to do it.

Prediction: Draw

Manchester United – (h)

Man United’s loss to West Brom at the weekend meant we stayed in fifth, with them trailing us by two points.

They’re not exactly setting the world alight and arguably don’t deserve to be anywhere near the top four give some of their performances this term.

However, you’d have to fancy us to beat them at the Boleyn Ground and increase the gap between us and further boost our top four challenge.

And if they’re still in the Europa League it’s likely they’ll have one eye on that still, which will be a further boost to our chances.

Prediction: Win

Stoke City (a)

Stoke are also having a pretty good season and are well on their way towards finishing a top eight finish.

This fixture is our last of the campaign and depending on how the other eight games pan out before then, we may need a victory at the Britannia Stadium to make our dreams come true.

It’s a hard place to go but so are most of the other places we’ve won at this season, so getting a result here is more than doable.

Prediction: Win