English FA CUP
2011-02-21 - West Ham vs Burnley
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English FA Cup
Monday 21 February 2011 - Kickoff 8pm
This game is live on TV
West Ham
Avram Grant has enjoyed something of a love affair with the English Cup competitions over the last 2 seasons after leading Portsmouth to the FA Cup Final and West Ham to the Carling Cup Semi Finals in that time. Now Grant looks to keep his side going into the QFs of the FA Cup, although the fans are sure hoping a date at Wembley will not be coupled with the relegation suffered by Portsmouth last season.
West Ham remained in 19th in the Premier League after 2 of their relegation rivals, West Brom and Wolves, shared the points on Sunday. However, that result means the Hammers are now 3 points from the safety zone with an inferior goal difference as we get close to the home run this season. West Ham are 3-4-6 at Upton Park this season, scoring 14 goals and conceding 20. In cup games, they are 4-1-0, scoring 13 goals and conceding 4.
The team has only picked up 1 point from their last 2 games but surely must feel a little bit of confidence after coming back from 3-0 down to draw at West Brom in their last game. West Ham have won 4 of their last 6 games at Upton Park in all competitions, but they have lost 2 of the last 3 without scoring a goal.
Matthew Upson and James Tomkins are both doubts for the game while Thomas Hitzlsperger will be making his long awaited debut. Demba Ba will expect to earn a starting place after scoring 2 goals at the Hawthornes last week.
Burnley
While West Ham's key to the season is surviving in the Premier League, Burnley are hoping to push their way into the Play Offs and return to the top flight after suffering a relegation last season. They have since released Brian Laws as manager and brought in Eddie Howe. The ex-Bournemouth manager has already had an impact on the side as they push up the table in the Championship.
Burnley sit in 8th place in the table and are 6 points behind the teams in the final Play Off spot. However, they do have a game in hand over the sides immediately above them in the table, although the away form has to be improved. Burnley are 3-5-8 away from Turf Moor this season, scoring 18 goals and conceding 19. They are also 1-1-0 away in the cups this season, scoring 4 goals and conceding 2 and it took an extra time period for Premier League Aston Villa to beat them in the Carling Cup earlier this season.
The team have lost just 1 of their last 9 games in all competitions and have lost just 1 of their last 5 away from home. Burnley should also have some confidence from picking up 4 points in away games at fellow promotion hopefuls Cardiff City and Watford. They have kept just 1 clean sheet from their last 13 away games in all competitions.
Charlie Austin and Marvin Bartley are both ineligible having played for other sides in the competition earlier this season. David Edgar is in the squad after a proposed loan deal to Swansea fell through.
Head to Head
These two sides last played last season when both were Premier League clubs.
Burnley won at Turf Moor but were beaten 5-3 at Upton Park.
Prediction
This should be a fairly entertaining game for us neutrals on Monday evening before the European games kick off later in the week. Both sides will fancy their chances of earning a QF berth where they are due to play Stoke City at the Brittania Stadium.
West Ham have plenty of attacking options in their line up now and will have to rely on them to bail out a suspect defence that has been struggling of late and could be without their first choice centre backs. Demba Ba has looked lively in his first 2 games for the Hammers and will be a threat throughout if he starts.
Burnley have also looked more impressive under the guidance of Eddie Howe and their last 2 results have said a lot about the ability they have in the side. A concern will be the lack of clean sheets away from home.
With neither side wanting a replay, I expect the game will be fairly open and attacking. The 'Both Teams to Score' market has been priced up a little lower than I hoped, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the Over 2.5 goals market priced up at around the same price as the West Ham win.
While I do think the Hammers are the favourites, their defensive problems have caused issues all season. Even with a strong cup pedigree at home this season, I do expect Burnley will cause plenty of problems of their own. With neither being that impressive at the back, goals has to be my pick here.
The Pick :
West Ham 3-2 Burnley
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll take the Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.9 (3 UNITS)Follow me on Twitter @DavindaAulak- the direct link is below
