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Its probably one of the most popular non-Brexit questions being asked around London -- what is wrong with West Ham United?Hammers manager Slaven Bilic is still searching for answers as his team tries to avoid a fifth consecutive defeat Saturday against Middlesbrough at London Stadium.Following a seventh-place finish and a Premier League era-record 62 points last season, much was expected of West Ham (1-0-5) given their move to their new London Stadium grounds as well as a Premier League that featured evergreens Manchester United and Chelsea in a state of flux. It appeared a top-four finish could be in the offering for the Hammers, who have burgeoning stars in French winger Dimitri Payet and fellow midfielder Michael Antonio.While Antonio has lived up to the hype, scoring five of West Hams seven league goals, the magic Payet created with his curling, bending and dipping free kicks in 2015-16 has yet to materialise. He has yet to open his scoring account this season, and the Hammers defence has been in tatters save their 1-0 victory over Bournemouth on Aug. 21.They were embarrassed 3-0 at home by Southampton on Sunday and have shipped 14 goals during their four-match skid. West Ham have not lost five straight Premier League matches since April 2-May 1, 2011, when they closed the season with seven losses and a draw en route to their last relegation to the ChampionshipI am concerned, Bilic admitted during his Thursday news conference. If we are talking about the last five Premier League games, its simply not the way we expected it to be, its definitely not good and thats why the only thing we are thinking about is the game on Saturday against Middlesbrough.Desperate times have called for desperate measures, and Bilic helped organise a team dinner Monday night to help alleviate some of the stress. That, however, sparked some controversy with rumours that striker Andy Carroll and goalkeeper Darren Randolph appeared intoxicated in public during the off-day Tuesday. The team said it was looking into the matter and both players reportedly denied they were drunk.Bilic, facing some scrutiny as Hammers manager for the first time since arriving in London last year, is confident a victory here could be a defining point to start a turnaround to an underachieving season to date.With one win we can build everything back and we have a good chance at home, he said. We are a team that is alive, the players are good together, they train, they listen, we talk about it a lot.But we need to do it in a game and not for half an hour, or an hour, or when we are one down or four down. But we have to do it for 90 minutes.Sunday loss was the first time West Ham were shut out this season, and Manuel Lazinis penalty in the 4-2 loss at West Bromwich Albion on Sept. 17 was the first goal scored by someone other than Antonio since James Collins tallied in the season-opening loss Aug. 15 at Chelsea. The Hammers have conceded eight first-half goals during their losing streak.New boys Middlesbrough (1-2-3) enter the weekend in 16th place on five points, two better than West Ham in the table. They have dropped three on the bounce in league play and are winless in five overall (0-1-4).Boro were unable to overcome a double by Tottenhams Heung-Min Son in the first 23 minutes and dropped a 2-1 decision at home to Spurs last Saturday. Ben Gibson pulled one back in the 65th minute, but offence is also a sore spot -- Middlesbrough have just six goals in league play.Like West Ham, Boro are consistently having lapses in the first 45 minutes, shipping six goals in the first half of their three league defeats.We need to improve our performances, manager Aitor Karanka said at his news conference Thursday. West Ham are not in their best moment but they are a good team. Our biggest mistake would be to think it is an easy game.The players need to know that we can compete, but we must compete from the first minute.Defender Fabio resumed training with the team and could be available to make his season debut in league play. He was forced off with an injury after the first 10 minutes of an EFL Cup loss to Fulham on Aug. 24.The teams have not faced each other since Middlesbrough took four of six points in the Championship during the 2011-12 season. Boro may also fancy their chances for success at London Stadium since they went 0-2-7 in their last nine matches at The Boleyn Ground.Shoes Ireland Free Shipping . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Buy Shoes Ireland . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. https://www.shoesirelandsale.com/ . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Wholesale Shoes Ireland . But what about the officials? Every sport has officials and they also have stories about hard work and sacrifice but their accomplishments are seldom recognized by anyone outside their inner circle. Cheap Shoes Ireland Online . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Second-seeded Roberta Vinci struggled past qualifier Giulia Gatto-Monticone 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the first round of the Italiacom Open on Tuesday. Vinci will next play 2011 runner-up Polona Hercog of Slovenia, who beat Eva Birnerova 6-4, 6-1. Last years runner-up Barbora Zahlavova Strycov is also safely through after she defeated Kristyna Pliskova 6-4, 6-4. Two seeded players were eliminated with sixth seeded Irina-Camelia Begu losing 7-5, 7-5 to Renata Voracova, while Dinah Pfizenmaier beat eighth seeded Karolina Pliskova. Fourth-seeded Klara Zakopalova is through following a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 victory over 2009 winner Flavia Pennetta, while fifth-seeded Lourdes Dominguez Lino also progressed after opponent Alexandra Dulgheru retired when losing 5-1.dddddddddddd. Five-time winner Anabel Medina Garrigues is also through after beating Kristina Barrois of Germany 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Fellow Spaniard Estrella Cabeza Candela cruised past Alice Matteucci of Italy, 6-4, 6-1. In Tuesdays other main-draw matches, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni beat Mariana Duque-Marino 6-3, 6-3, Karin Knapp defeated Teliana Pereira 6-3, 6-2 and Nastassja Burnett beat Maryna Zanevska 6-0, 7-5. ' ' '