Why West Ham's survival bid could be over before it has begun if Leicester win in London

Pick up as many bargains as you please on the high street today, complete your Christmas shopping if you like, but failure to take three points tonight and West Ham United will win Black Friday.

It’s already cloudy, but the mood could turn dark in the east end of London at 10pm this evening.

The Westfield shopping centre next door will be brimming with bargain hunters throughout the day. But if it’s not the Irons carrying out three points from Stratford later on, then the shadow of misery grows.

Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. David Moyes has only been at the London Stadium for ten minutes, but already he finds himself in a situation where things just can’t afford to get worse before they get better.

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The unavoidable fact of the matter is that the Hammers have won two Premier League games all season.

Not battle-hardened triumphs away to a London rival, or guts and glory against a fancied side in front of their home supporters.

Those two wins were at home to newly-promoted Huddersfield Town and Swansea City, one of the two clubs currently in an even worse state than they are.

The fixture list backs up the severity of the situation. Moyes’ first home game in charge is a must-win thanks to what’s ahead. Don’t be fooled into thinking a point against the 2016 champions would suffice.

While tonight’s visit of Leicester City is winnable, it’s also crucial. It’s then a trip to Everton on Wednesday night – a club who, surely, must finally secure their new boss and aim for the new manager bounce in time for a game you can now classify as urgent.

Because? Then it’s Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal for the Irons. Failure to take four points from tonight and Goodison Park next midweek means, due to their dreadful record against big clubs in 2017, could see them cut adrift by Christmas.

Defeat at Watford was damaging. So bad that brain-dead West Ham fans have even been calling 999 to accuse them of a criminal decline. Some have even called the emergency services to report Manuel Lanzini missing since August.

Moyes needs a minimum of a seven-point return from this five-game run. Finding those two wins to achieve that, considering their results against the top six clubs for so long, will probably have to come tonight and on Wednesday on Merseyside.

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They can as good as forget their trip to Manchester City, but visits from Chelsea and Arsenal do not hold the fear for the visiting side that seeing ‘West Ham (A)’ on their itinerary once did.

It’s critical they start winning, and start winning now.

Although there’s always that one club that drops from nowhere, the sides hovering just above have every right to think things will soon improve. Unlike the Hammers.

West Brom and Everton surely can’t get any worse and as soon as their new managers arrive, a surge is expected.

Stoke City – the side who West Ham play away from home straight after their horror City-Chelsea-Arsenal run – play Crystal Palace and Swansea in their next three games.

By that point the Premier League table could look a lot different. It’s an enormous period for the man with a lot to prove Moyes, and for his new club.