First Arsenal, then Liverpool, Manchester City and now Chelsea. The teams who featured in last season’s Barclays Premier League top six have not enjoyed facing the Hammers this season.
Saturday’s 2-1 success against Chelsea made it four wins from four against the big boys and took Slaven Bilic’s men up to third in the table.
Mauro Zarate and Andy Carroll scored the goals to down the champions and keep the Hammers’ record of scoring at least twice in their last eight league games.
Twenty-two goals in ten league games places the Hammers as the league’s second-highest scorers and ten different players have got on the scoresheet.
One of those – Zarate – was on hand with his second league goal of the season to open the scoring against Chelsea and extend a fine run of recent form.
The Argentine forward has now notched four goals in his last five starts.
His all-round performance against Chelsea was one which deserves attention, as it showed there is far more to Zarate’s game than just scoring goals.
Playing wide as part of a front three, Zarate’s versatility as an attacking player was evident, as he had to work both going forward and heading back to his own goal to help negate Chelsea’s threat.
Fourteen of his 30 touches came inside his own half, while the number of tackles he attempted – seven – was only matched by Mark Noble.
His most telling contribution was, of course, his 17th minute goal – and alongside a perfect record of 19 successful passes from 19 attempts, it capped a wonderful day for the Hammers and Zarate.
Analyse the game for yourself with in-depth match stats in our Match Centre here.