Eng. Championship
2011-08-21 - West Ham United vs Leeds United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Championship
Sunday 21 August 2011 - Kickoff 1:15pm
This game is live on TV
West Ham United
The opening day defeat to Cardiff City was a kick in the teeth for Sam Allardyce's side that arguably deserved more than a point, but they have since bounced back and look like the real deal to remain in contention for promotion back to the Premier League. The biggest concern at the moment for the Hammers is whether they can hold on to their leader and inspirational Captain Scott Parker who has apparently been told he should move back to the Premier League to further his England career.
West Ham have justified their position as favourites since the loss to Cardiff as they won back to back away games and they will have a chance to move up to 4th in the table if they can pick up the 3 points. The team were beaten by an injury time goal against Cardiff in their only appearance in front of their own fans this season.
After that loss, wins at Doncaster Rovers and impressively at Watford have shown the rest of the League the amount of quality still in the West Ham dressing room. Their latest was a 0-4 win at Watford and they have kept clean sheets in their last 2 games.
James Tomkins is a doubt after coming off early in the win at Watford. John Carew is in line to make his debut since signing from Aston Villa in the Summer.
Leeds United
Leeds United overachieved last season and that meant expectations were perhaps a little higher than plausible coming into this season. Ken Bates has been criticising some of the supporters that have demanded more is spent on the playing squad and Simon Grayson has not had the best of luck with injuries dominating to start the season.
Leeds are in 17th place this season and have picked up 3 points from their opening 3 games of the season and moved forward in the Carling Cup. They have played only 1 game away from Elland Road this season, losing 3-1 at Southampton on the opening day.
It has been a disappointing start to the season for Grayson's team as they started off with back to back League defeats. However, a 4-1 win over Hull in a Yorkshire Derby would have perhaps built the confidence ahead of this tough trip to the Capital.
Leeds looked a little short of personnel for the game with Hull, but it did not stop them recording their first win of the season. Max Gradel and Jonny Howson have returned from suspension, but Luciano Becchio and Billy Paynter are both still missing.
Head to Head
This will be a first meeting of these sleeping giants since 2004/05, and on that occasion they played out a 1-1 draw here when David Healy scored a last minute equaliser.
West Ham have not won at Upton Park against Leeds in their last 6 games, with that last win coming in March 1998, but with 6 seasons passed since they last met, I think these stats are a little irrelevant.
Prediction
West Ham were very unlucky in their first game against Cardiff and it does make me wonder how they will cope with the expectation of the home fans as they looked pretty good in winning their 2 away games, especially at Watford.
Leeds seem to be suffering under a weight of expectation and they were a little disappointing when I saw them play Southampton in their opener, but the win over Hull may just release some of these players.
I hate picking short priced favourites in this Division as it really is a League where anyone can beat anyone on any given day. However, I think the West Ham squad is full of quality and look a step ahead of their competition at this early stage with many of the expected departures still at the club.
They should have won their first home game, and I think they will be able to rectify that result in front of the television cameras on Sunday afternoon.
The Pick :
West Ham United 2-0 Leeds United
