Can Hammers banish slow starts?

West Ham have scored a club-record 32 goals in 12 league games but conceded 15 of 20 goals in first halves, forcing constant comebacks.

West Ham have made an explosive start to their Championship campaign under Nuno Espirito Santo, scoring 32 goals in their opening 12 league games — their joint-best return at this stage of a season since 1933-34. They remain within three points of the summit and are odds-on favourites for promotion.

However, the Hammers have made life unnecessarily difficult for themselves through a persistent pattern of slow starts. In 15 games across all competitions this season, West Ham have fallen behind in the first half on nine occasions. Of their 20 goals conceded in all competitions, 15 have come in the opening 45 minutes. By contrast, they have not conceded a second-half goal in their past eight league games and allowed only four after the interval across all 12 matches.

The statistics reveal a stark divide: West Ham have scored 20 of their 32 league goals after half-time, meaning they are consistently forced to chase games. Espirito Santo has acknowledged the issue publicly, telling BBC Radio London after a draw with QPR: "We have to fix it urgently; we have to start the games better." Despite brief improvements with clean sheets against Lincoln and Swansea, the pattern returned when Southampton scored twice inside 11 minutes last weekend in a 3-2 defeat. West Brom visit on Saturday, and the Hammers will need to break their slow-start habit to avoid another comeback scenario.