English Premier
2012-12-09 - West Ham United vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 9 December 2012 - Kick Off 4pm
This game is live on TV
West Ham United
At half time last weekend, West Ham United were fortunate to only be 0-1 down against Chelsea here... I don't know what Sam Allardyce told his troops at half time, but the Hammers came out firing in the second half and were very good in a 3-1 victory that will keep the fans very happy with their start to the season.
West Ham moved up to 8th in the Premier League table thanks to their win and improved their points total to 22 for the season, which is just 4 behind the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League places. The form at Upton Park was going to be key for Allardyce this season and they have begun with a 4-3-1 record, scoring 14 goals and conceding 7 in those games.
Back to back defeats at Tottenham and Manchester United were expected, but the performances were much better than the results would suggest. Then came the win against Chelsea which means the team is unbeaten in their last 4 at home, winning 2 of those games and also holding Manchester City in that stretch.
Andy Carroll is out for a couple of months although he wouldn't have been able to play in this game anyway and he joins Ricardo Vaz Te, Jack Collison and Alou Diarra as long-term absentees. Yossi Benayoun will hope to return against one of his former clubs and George McCartney should also be passed fit.
Liverpool
Brendan Rodgers sent a strong team to Italy on Thursday night to secure Liverpool's place in the last 32 of the Europa League and they returned with that prize in the bag. The form has steadily improved in the Premier League to the point that a potential run for a Champions League place is not out of the question if they can turn draws into wins.
Liverpool are 11th in the Premier League with 19 points to their name so far and only Everton have drawn more games than them so far this season. That means they are just 7 points off the teams in the Champions League places, but it is away from home that they need to secure more wins. Liverpool have a 1-4-2 away record, scoring 10 goals and conceding 11 in those games.
The side have only suffered 1 loss in their last 7 games in all competitions, while a 1-0 win over Southampton in the League last weekend means they have lost just 1 in 10 Premier League games. Before winning at Udinese on Thursday night, Liverpool had failed to win any of 6 away games in all competitions, although they have only lost 2 of their last 11 away games.
Luis Suarez is suspended meaning Liverpool may have to start without a recognised centre forward in this one. Steven Gerrard was ill on Thursday but is set to be in the starting line up for this one.
Head to Head
West Ham United beat Liverpool 3-1 here at Upton Park in their last meeting a couple of seasons ago.
Liverpool had won their previous 2 visits to this part of London and have won 5 of the last 7 played at Upton Park, although West Ham picked up the wins in the other 2 games.
Prediction
I am very surprised that West Ham United are considered such outsiders for this game considering Liverpool are missing Luis Suarez, a player that has been a big part of the majority of goals they have scored so far.
In fact, even if Suarez was in the line up, I wouldn't expect West Ham to be at 3.25 to win this game as they certainly have the capabilities to cause Liverpool plenty of problems, especially if they play to the same level they showed in the second half against Chelsea last weekend.
While Liverpool are playing better now than at the start of the season and have a lot of draws to their name, the absence of Suarez is big news and I think the home side have to be worth chancing at the odds.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
West Ham United 2-0 Liverpool
