Friday’s Premier League news | OneFootball

WEST HAM ARE IN A DIFFICULT POSITION – NUNO

WEST HAM: Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledges his relegation-threatened West Ham side are in a “difficult position” as they seek to snap a five-match winless run at Manchester City.

The Hammers have surrendered leads in their last two matches and sit 17th in the Premier League table, three points from safety ahead of Saturday’s daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium.

Following Sunday’s 3-2 loss at home to Aston Villa, Nuno has picked up 10 points from 11 games since replacing Graham Potter as head coach in September

“We’ve been doing really nice, good things throughout the games, but missing some aspects of closing the games down,” he said.

“In terms of performance, I think we are performing well. I think the boys did a really good match against Villa.

“We were punished by details and mistakes and it’s up to us to correct those.

“We’re in a difficult position and have to sustain our performance throughout all the game.

“We need to work on removing these oscillations from the games and Saturday is another opportunity to do that.”

DANIEL FARKE: I’M VERY PICKY IN JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW

LEEDS: Daniel Farke has revealed the club are “open and ready” to try and improve their squad but stressed the pitfalls of a difficult market in January.

Leeds’ summer strengthening after promotion was met by an underwhelming response from their fanbase, while Farke’s side, three points clear of the bottom three, face a tough battle to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.

Farke said: “If you sign (players) in the summer you have pre-season to prepare and integrate them and so they can adapt to your style and processes. It’s a bit more difficult in January.

“You either get a player where they’re quite often a problem because he’s coming back from injury. Or you have to spend lots to get a player in his rhythm and they can be over-priced. I’m very picky in January.

“You need many things to come together to find a solution, but we’re working on a professional level.

“If we find an addition who is affordable and makes us better, you have to be open and ready for it. We can speak about January when January has arrived. My whole focus is just on this group.”

Leeds face Crystal Palace at Elland Road on Saturday having lifted their fans by taking five points from their last three games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Brentford.

Farke has been rewarded for switching to a flexible 3-5-2 formation, with striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin – four goals in his last four matches – proving the main beneficiary.

SEAN DYCHE HAPPY TO PLAY ‘GRINCH’ ROLE DURING FESTIVE SEASON

NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche is enjoying being “the Grinch” as he works his squad hard on the field.

Forest are enjoying a rare clear week in the fixture list, with no midweek game before Monday night’s visit to Fulham.

It is Forest’s last game before Christmas, but Dyche is not letting up.

“I’m renowned for being the Grinch at this time of year! Christmas comes and goes pretty quickly in my life, as you can imagine with being in football since I was 16,” he said.

“It is one of the downsides of the job. It is a working period, as it always has been for me.

“It has been a pretty hard day of work today, then they will be recovering tomorrow and we will build into the game. I think it’s been a good break for the players, just because of the travelling and the game schedule they have had. It has fallen good for us this time.

“I think it’s a good change for the players to have a few extra days this week to recover. And for players coming out of injuries, they have had more training days.”