When West Ham host Wolves on Friday night, they do so in the knowledge that, were they to win, they will move out of the bottom three, and Tottenham will drop into their place.
Just three West Ham league wins at home in 2025/26
The Lilywhites face a tough away fixture at Sunderland this weekend, and if they're unable to head back to North London with all three points, then the Hammers know that as long as they match or better Spurs' results until the end of the season, they'll be safe from the drop.
Of course, a win for the Irons is by no means guaranteed, as their record at home in the English top-flight this season is just three wins, four draws, and eight losses in 15 games.
The East Londoners were also the first team that Wolves managed to beat this season, and that should fill Rob Edwards' side with confidence, as they aim to address a five-match run without a win against West Ham at the London Stadium.
Wolves are also in the midst of a 17-game winless Premier League streak away from Molineux, whilst the Hammers are unbeaten at home since defeat to Nottingham Forest at the start of January, discounting the shootout loss to Leeds United last weekend.
Wolves looking for league double for the first time since 2019/20
If the visitors did manage to spring a surprise, they would've completed the double over West Ham for the first time since the 2019/20 campaign.
The way that Edwards has turned things around has come far too late for the Midlands-based outfit, but after 11 successive defeats between October and December, Wolves have only lost four of the last 13 Premier League games.
To give further context to their improvement, the 15 goals conceded during that time are only bettered by Man City, Arsenal (both 11), and Brighton (12).
Only against Southampton (nine wins) have Wolves won more often than they have against the East Londoners (eight) in the Premier League, and the Hammers haven't scored in any of those eight defeats.
No draws in the last 16 meetings
West Ham have also been on the winning side in this fixture eight times out of the last 16, meaning none of those games has ended in a draw.
The last six have seen both sides winning three each, with at least three goals being scored in five of those six matches.
It's worth pointing out, too, that the hosts have actually only lost one of their last six home Premier League games (W1, D4), meaning that they've earned more points in that period (seven) than in the first nine matches at London Stadium in 2025/26 (six points – W2, L7).
Jarrod Bowen is clearly going to be key in helping West Ham extend that run, and he'll fancy his chances of doing just that.
Bowen is vital for West Ham
That's because he has more Premier League goals against Wolves than any other side (six), and five of those have come in the last five home games against them.
As if to evidence just how vital he's become for his team, Bowen has the most goals this season (eight), most assists (six), the most total shots (67), the most shots on target (23), and the most chances created (32).
If the attacker and his colleagues do the business at one end, then the Hammers' defence has to be up for it at the other, though if Bowen is marked out of the game, one doesn't need to speculate as to how that will affect West Ham during the game.
When John McGinn scored for Aston Villa against them in their last Premier League game, it was a 17th goal conceded from set pieces. No one has conceded more, and if they were to do so again here, they'd equal the most set-piece goals conceded in a season (18 in 2002/03).
Goals guaranteed
Joao Gomes' current form has seen him have two goal involvements in his last three Premier League games, and with 164 interceptions this season (only Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson has more - 259), it will be interesting to see how much of a thorn in the side he'll be for West Ham.
Only Burnley (61 goals) has conceded more than Wolves' 54 and the Irons' 57 in the Premier League this season, and with only four clean sheets each this season, that suggests that there could be rich pickings for whichever attack gets its act together quicker.
Both teams are into double figures for the number of goals they've let in late on in games as well, but perhaps more important for Edwards and his squad is the knowledge that they've not won a single game this season when conceding the first goal of the game.
