West Ham form shows they could get off to a flyer | London Evening Standard

Form shows West Ham could get off to a flyer during stint away from London StadiumAway days | West Ham are not expected to play at the London Stadium in August due to the the World Athletics ChampionshipsBryn Lennon/Getty Images

Tottenham will not be the only displaced team in London next season. West Ham will have to play at least their first three fixtures away from the Olympic Park while their stadium is re-configured following the World Athletics Championships there.

It's not the first time the Hammers have been forced away from home for a prolonged spell.

After Upton Park was bombed in 1944, they were forced to play away for three months at the beginning of the 1944-45 season of the Wartime League South.

In typically quirky West Ham fashion, the spell included a 10-match unbeaten run - only for them to then lose the first fixture upon their return to the Boleyn Ground in a 1-0 defeat by Spurs that October.

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When they do get back to the London Stadium, things have to improve. The final home game there last season was pitiful - a soul-destroying 4-0 capitulation against Liverpool.

That followed thrashings in east London by Arsenal and Manchester City - twice. And one lesson of the troubled first season is that Slaven Bilic's team need an injection of pace because their new pitch is big and wide.

That said, Bilic's first season in charge in 2016-17 began with away wins at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in the opening month.

So will it actually help the Hammers to face this re-arrangement at the start of this campaign? That's how unpredictable they can be. Or usually. This time, if the squad is not profoundly improved, the enforced time on the road could signal a struggle from the start.

WEST HAM FIXTURES IN FULL

12/08/2017 Manchester United (a) 15:00 19/08/2017 Southampton (h) 15:00 26/08/2017 Newcastle United (a) 15:00 09/09/2017 Huddersfield Town (h) 15:00 16/09/2017 West Bromwich Albion (a) 15:00 23/09/2017 Tottenham Hotspur (h) 15:00 30/09/2017 Swansea City (h) 15:00 14/10/2017 Burnley (a) 15:00 21/10/2017 Brighton and Hove Albion (h) 15:00 28/10/2017 Crystal Palace (a) 15:00 04/11/2017 Liverpool (h) 15:00 18/11/2017 Watford (a) 15:00 25/11/2017 Leicester City (h) 15:00 29/11/2017 Everton (a) 19:45 02/12/2017 Manchester City (a) 15:00 09/12/2017 Chelsea (h) 15:00 12/12/2017 Arsenal (h) 19:45 16/12/2017 Stoke City (a) 15:00 23/12/2017 Newcastle United (h) 15:00 26/12/2017 Bournemouth (a) 15:00 30/12/2017 Tottenham Hotspur (a) 15:00 01/01/2018 West Bromwich Albion (h) 15:00 13/01/2018 Huddersfield Town (a) 15:00 20/01/2018 Bournemouth (h) 15:00 30/01/2018 Crystal Palace (h) 19:45 03/02/2018 Brighton and Hove Albion (a) 15:00 10/02/2018 Watford (h) 15:00 24/02/2018 Liverpool (a) 15:00 03/03/2018 Swansea City (a) 15:00 10/03/2018 Burnley (h) 15:00 17/03/2018 Manchester United (h) 15:00 31/03/2018 Southampton (a) 15:00 07/04/2018 Chelsea (a) 15:00 14/04/2018 Stoke City (h) 15:00 21/04/2018 Arsenal (a) 15:00 28/04/2018 Manchester City (h) 15:00 05/05/2018 Leicester City (a) 15:00 13/05/2018 Everton (h) 15:00