LEICESTER CITY v WEST HAM UNITED
Football : English : Championship
Monday, April 23rd, 2012, 7:45PM GMT

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PREVIEW

Southampton blew their lead against Middlesborough and lost the match to give West Ham United hope of automatic promotion. West Ham had earlier blown their lead too, drawing away at Bristol City, but a win at Leicester would see them pull to within 2 points of the Saints with 1 game remaining. Basically, only a win will do here for the Hammers, otherwise they will have to win the play-offs.

Leicester City are 9 points short of the playoff spots, and their season is done, with nothing to play for and nothing to lose. They come here winless in 2 matches, having lost to Millwall 2-1 and then being held to a goalless draw by Burnley. The Foxes have not beaten West Ham in 5 meetings now, losing 2 of them.

West Ham have not been consistent lately, alternating wins with dropped points. However, just looking back the last few games I've noticed a trend. The Hammers have followed up the draws and losses with massive wins, keeping clean sheets. A 2-0 win at Peterborough was followed up by a 4-2 loss to Reading, but they bounced back with a crushing 4-0 win at Barnsley. The following match ended 3-3 with Birmingham but they then mauled Brighton 6-0. The last match saw them held 1-1 by Bristol City. Surely they will have a big game here and perform against a side whose motivation and form is lacking?

West Ham have not lost now in 7 away games, winning 4 of them, and they have not lost in any of their last 4 matches home or away. However, I am tempted away from a bet on West Ham here, despite their need to win, because Leicester are undefeated in 8 home games in the Championship, with their last loss here coming more than 3 months ago! They have also won 6 of the 8 home matches against sides currently higher in the table than themselves. As you can see from the results this weekend, a lot of higher placed sides dropped points in games they needed to and should have won. So I shall not bother with a side.

Here's an interesting stat. West Ham have scored in all their away games in the league in 2012. They have scored 14 goals in their last 4 games, over 3 per game. Win or not, they should attack here and while they may concede, they will surely score a few. Ricardo Vaz Te, the top scorer for the club with 20, has scored 8 goals in his last 6 matches, and I like him to add to that tally in this game.

And again, remember, Sam Allardyce is, and always has been, a Walrus Faced C*nt. True story.

EDITORS NOTE :
Addicted's views don't necessarily reflect the views of the website .. although in Mr Sam Allardyce's case ... ;-)

BETTING VERDICT

Coral have given out an absolutely massive price on Ricardo Vaz Te to score at any time, far bigger than any other bookie. Get on this now.

The Pick :

West Ham United win

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Ricardo Vaz Te to score @ 3.00 (Coral)