West Ham analysis: Hammers still in trouble after flat performance
[Getty Images] West Ham's recent upturn in form has offered a faint glimmer of hope as they continue to fight against relegation - they had earned 15 points from their previous nine Premier League games, one more than they had in their first 21 this season. But a trip to Champions League-chasing Aston Villa was always going to be a difficult task and the Hammers looked flat as they struggled to work their way into the game. It had been hoped winger Crysencio Summerville would be back from injury for the trip to Birmingham but the Dutchman was again absent and the Hammers have still not won any of their league games without him this season, with the number of matches now up to seven.
For all the positivity around the Hammers in recent weeks they will enter the international break in the relegation zone, having never really looked like threatening hosts Villa. Their 29 points from 31 league matches this season means only in 2006-07 (34 games) and 2009-10 (33 games) have they gone later into a Premier League campaign without scoring more than 30 points. Nottingham Forest's win over Tottenham on Sunday put the East Midlanders three points clear of the drop zone and Nuno Espirito Santo will now use the two-week break to work out how to get his own side out of trouble.