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Martin Keown has made a surprising admission about West Ham’s Premier League survival hopes.
The Arsenal legend discussed the relegation battle with former Crystal Palace owner and talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan.
Keown admitted that he feels very differently about the prospect of West Ham going down to most Gunners supporters.
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Martin Keown does not want West Ham to be relegated
Keown highlighted West Ham’s three remaining London derbies (Crystal Palace, Brentford and Arsenal) as a key factor in their relegation battle.
He insisted that fans of those three teams will be desperate for the Hammers to go down, but he does not agree personally.
The three-time Premier League winner revealed he is “not one of those” Arsenal supporters who are praying on West Ham’s downfall this season.
“When I look at West Ham, they have three derby games,” Keown explained. “Don’t underestimate that because all the locals want you down. They’d love to see West Ham go down. I’m not one of those, but that’s how it works.”
However, Keown believes Nuno Espirito Santo’s side could be in trouble because of their challenging upcoming fixtures.
“They’ve got difficult games,” he added. “They play Villa next, who are going for a top-four place. Villa have only won two games in the last 10, but nonetheless are still in a top-four position. If they wake up, that’s a difficult game for [West Ham].
“They have to go away to Arsenal and Newcastle. West Ham are doing remarkably well at the moment to try to turn this around.”
Although they face some awkward opponents in the run-in, Keown ultimately has slightly more faith in West Ham to stay up than Tottenham.
“Spurs fill me with the least confidence,” he concluded, suggesting the Hammers could escape relegation at the expense of their London rivals.
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