West Ham picked up a vital 1-0 win over Burnley on Wednesday to move four points clear of the Premier League’s bottom three.

Mark Noble reacted quickest after his penalty was saved by Tom Heaton to slot home what turned out to be the winner for the home side, who have now lost just one of their last four league matches.

They went into Wednesday’s clash off the back of an encouraging 2-2 draw away at Liverpool on Sunday, and had prior to that drawn away at Manchester United and pushed Tottenham close a few weeks earlier.

However, they have won just four league games this season, three of which at the London Stadium, and Bilic will be hoping that they can record a fifth against struggling Hull on Saturday.

It has not been the start to the new era at the new stadium that Hammers fans would have been looking for after last season’s excellent seventh place finish in the Premier League, but victory on Saturday could take Bilic’s men up to 13th in the division.

Nevertheless, West Ham fans will be hoping that their win over Burnley is the start of a long unbeaten run and, as it’s approaching Christmas and indeed the halfway point of the season, we thought we’d take a look back and evaluate West Ham’s season thus far…

PRO – Improving signs

Despite a very frustrating time of it of late, there have been signs of improvement from West Ham in recent weeks.

Bilic’s men were unlucky to let slip a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2 at Tottenham a few weeks ago, and then they earned a deserved point against Manchester United the week after.

And although they were thumped 5-1 by Arsenal on December 3, they produced a battling display to deservedly draw at Liverpool last weekend, before finally getting a win by beating Burnley in midweek.

The performances have been better, except the Arsenal defeat, and there are certainly more optimistic signs for the Hammers now, especially going into a run of fixtures which includes games against Hull, Swansea, and Leicester.

CON – Defensively poor

This improvement isn’t really saying much given how hopeless the Hammers were at the start of the campaign, especially at the back.

They lost five of their first six league games, conceding 16 goals in the process, with the likes of Watford, West Brom, and Southampton all recording convincing victories over Bilic’s men and waltzing through the back four with ease on several occasions.

It could have been much worse for the Hammers as well if Dimitri Payet hadn’t produced a moment of brilliance to equalise against Middlesbrough, otherwise it would have been six defeats in seven, and the Hammers would have been rooted to the bottom three.

And West Ham haven’t looked entirely convincing at the back since then either, although their last ten games have yielded just 15 goals, so they are beginning to improve defensively.

Nonetheless, their tally of 31 goals conceded is the third worse in the top-flight behind Swansea and Hull, so Bilic has to improve that tally in the second half of the season.

PRO – Form of Michail Antonio

One of the biggest plus points so far this season has been the form of Michail Antonio.

The 26-year-old has scored seven times in the Premier League this time around, which means he is just one goal away from equalling last season’s tally.

The former Nottingham Forest and Reading winger has also shown his versatility by playing as a forward, a wing-back, and a full-back, and he has done reasonably well in all of those roles.

His most recent goal against Liverpool was demonstrative of a player full of confidence, as he pounced on a defensive error to then calmly slot past Loris Karius in the Reds goal.

Antonio is West Ham’s top-scorer this season, and his form will be crucial if they are to pull clear from the bottom three.

CON – Look blunt going forward

Of the six strikers on the books at the London Stadium, only two of them have scored in the Premier League this season, and they have come in the last few weeks.

Diafra Sakho’s strike against Tottenham on November 19 was the first scored by a striker, and then Andy Carroll added the second in the 5-1 loss to Arsenal two weeks ago.

However, the likes of Simone Zaza, Andre Ayew, and Ashley Fletcher have yet to get off the mark this season, albeit Ayew has been injured for a significant chunk of it.

The Hammers have netted 18 goals in the league this season, which is by no means the worst offensive record, but they need their forwards to chip in more regularly, as they cannot rely on Michail Antonio and Dimitri Payet to bail them out every week.

Player of the Season – Michail Antonio

Dimitri Payet has done well and scored that brilliant goal against Middlesbrough, but has sometimes looked disinterested in games and not had the impact expected of him.

Nonetheless, it is Michail Antonio who has been their best player so far.

His tally of seven league goals is the most by any West Ham player this season, and is just one shy of the amount he netted in the whole of last year.

The 26-year-old has shown to be adept as a wing-back and a forward this season, and his goal against Liverpool last weekend epitomised his attacking instinct and composure in front of goal.

Antonio was rightly recognised for his excellent form with a call-up to the England squad back in October (although he didn’t get on the pitch in either game) and plenty more will follow if he continues his fine form for the Hammers.