Top four contenders, billionaire takeover talk - West Ham are officially massive

That's the kind of thing you're likely to see on Twitter if you follow enough West Ham fans or dedicated fan accounts on social media.

Comments like these are posted with a massive tongue in the cheek and there have been plenty of fans calling talkSPORT to revel in how well things are going as they jokingly suggest the sky's the limit.

But should we be taking them more seriously? Maybe they are as massive as they claim to be now.

David Moyes' men secured perhaps their most impressive win of the season so far as they got past Liverpool in an enthralling clash at the London Stadium.

The 3-2 win sees West Ham leapfrog Liverpool into third in the Premier League, while also ending an unbeaten run of 25 matches for Jurgen Klopp's side.

What's amazing about this victory is that it's not a total shock.

West Ham have meant business all season having already secured their place in the knockout stage of the Europa League with two group matches to spare.

Antonio Conte's Tottenham will be very wary ahead of their Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against West Ham in December as the east Londoners have already claimed the scalps of Manchester United and Manchester City.

Moyes is building a fine side with Michail Antonio making the no.9 position his own and striking fear into Premier League centre-backs.

This season they have accumulated 23 points from their 11 Premier League games this season - winning seven and losing just two.

With 15, the Hammers have now won more points in their last six top flight games than any other top four rival - yes, they can be considered that now.

Their defence in solid, goalkeeper Luckasz Fabianski is arguably in the form of his life and at the heart of this breath of fresh air team is midfielder Declan Rice.

He's gaining recognition from all angles, with John Terry saying the England star is the best player in his position in the world and Rice's stats against Liverpool show the hype is justified.

Declan Rice vs Liverpool

Pass accuracy (91 per cent)

Duels won (75 per cent)

Attempted forward passes (21)

Successful forward passes (18)

Ball recoveries (10)

Attempted tackles (6)

Successful tackles (5)

Interceptions (1)

A mark of your success for a football club is when respect is being gained from outside.

Former Aston Villa star Gabby Agbonlahor even went so far as to say that West Ham are London's second-biggest club, ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham.

That's a whole other debate but these are undoubtedly the best times West Ham fans have experienced in a generation or two. And there could be more to come.

It was recently reported that Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky, who's estimated to be worth around £2.9billion, is looking to purchase a 27 per cent stake in the club with a view to a full takeover in the future.

Being owned by a billionaire will certainly justify the 'massive' tag the buoyant Hammers fans have placed on their club.

Kretinsky, watching the game, will have been impressed by what he saw.