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Premier League
Jan 2, 2016 at 12.45pm UK
 
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2-0

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Slaven Bilic hints at West Ham United title challenge

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic claims that there is only a psychological difference between the possibility of a title challenge for his side and the likes of Liverpool.

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has claimed that the only reason why his side are not considered title contenders is because they are not a 'big club'.

The Hammers currently sit eighth in the Premier League table, just one point behind Manchester United and Liverpool, both of whom are still considered as outsiders to challenge for top spot come May.

Bilic has urged his side to start thinking with the same ambitions as the traditionally bigger clubs ahead of Saturday's match against Liverpool at Upton Park.

"Manchester United or Liverpool, who are one point ahead of us, they are thinking [about the title]. It's all psychological because it is Liverpool. I mean they have been used to being in a title race. Some people would give more chance to Manchester United or Liverpool than to Leicester - without any logical reasons about what is happening on the pitch because Leicester is much better than those two clubs at the moment," Bilic told reporters.

"And I bet you that many clubs who have more points than Chelsea are more afraid that, with a bad run, they could get in more trouble than Chelsea. They are thinking about the top six at least. So it is psychological because we are used to Liverpool to be there. That is normal. That is the mentality. That is the structure of the club and that takes time to change.

"To become a big club, you need years of that, what Liverpool have; tradition, history, everything. And that reflects on your daily work, no matter who the coach is. It's about the jersey, it's the club. Let's all say the smaller clubs, the clubs like us, or Crystal Palace, we are all trying to move forward. Of course we want to do it as quickly as possible.

"But this is a good example of how it doesn't go like that. Now, we will never say we have a chance to win the league. Whereas for Liverpool it would be normal for them to say, 'yeah, we are nine points off'. It's in the head. And it takes time to change that."

Victory for West Ham in the first Premier League match of 2016 would see them close the gap on leaders Arsenal to seven points for a few hours at least.

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Dimitri Payet celebrates scoring his second for West Ham against Newcastle on September 14, 2015
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City97202091123
2Liverpool97111751222
3Arsenal95311710718
4Aston Villa95311611518
5Chelsea95221911817
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton94411612416
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest9441117416
8Tottenham HotspurSpurs94141810813
9Brentford94141818013
10Fulham93331212012
11Bournemouth93331111012
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle9333910-112
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham93241316-311
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd9324811-311
15Leicester CityLeicester92341317-49
16Everton92341016-69
17Crystal Palace9135611-56
18Ipswich TownIpswich9045920-114
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves90271225-132
20Southampton9018619-131


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