West Ham See Out Sunday With QPR Visit

Queens Park Rangers travel to Upton Park knowing that failure to secure points against West Ham will see them at the bottom of the pile after the seventh round of Premier League games and further detached from safety. Harry Redknapp`s men failed to find the winning formula in September despite valiant fight-backs against both Stoke City and Southampton last time out.

The R`s draw with Stoke was welcome relief for fans after watching their team fall to a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of a rejuvenated Manchester United. Centre-back Steven Caulker made sure QPR entered the dressing room level at half time, cancelling out a Mame Biram Diouf header though dependable striker Peter Crouch put the Potters ahead again six minutes after the break. With time running out it was down to Niko Kranjcar to ensure the strugglers shared the spoils in front of their home supporters. The confidence picked up from this last-gasp draw could not see the London side gather momentum in securing a result over Southampton away from home. Charlie Austin`s exquisite volley leveled up after Ryan Bertrand`s second-half opener though the Hampshire high-flyers saw Rangers return to London with empty pockets as top scorer Graziano Pelle hit the back of the net with a majestic scissor-kick that will be replayed again and again and again. The Hoops are yet to pick up a point away from home.

West Ham have made a less than impressive start to their campaign and have only picked up three points from a possible nine at the Boleyn Ground. A high scoring draw away at Hull City (2-2) preceded a memorable night at home as the Hammers saw off Premier League runners-up Liverpool, the Reds failing to recover after Sam Allardyce`s men scored two in the first ten minutes. Both Winston Reid and Diafra Sakho hit the back of the net in the very early stages only for the deficit to be reduced when Raheem Sterling hit a sweet strike 25 minutes in. West Ham remained strong in the face of Liverpool pressure and sealed the victory when Morgan Amalfitano beat Simon Mignolet with two minutes to go. Full on confidence, the Claret and Blue side produced the same level of performance against Manchester United last weekend though failed to pick up points after Kevin Nolan`s disallowed goal saw the score remain 2-1 to the Red Devils at Old Trafford. It was that man Sakho who bagged the goal for United 37 minutes into the first half. The 24-year-old Senegal international is 2/1 with ladbrokes to hit his fourth league goal at any time or can be backed at 6/1 (betfair, ladbrokes, paddy Power) to break the deadlock. It is the home side who are the strong favourites to see off last season`s Championship play-off winners QPR. Big Sam`s Hammers have been priced at 19/20 at paddy Power to pick up the win whilst QPR are 7/2 (Numerous) to pull off an unlikely upset. Eleven to four (boylesports) says that the match will be tied come the referee`s final whistle.

Versatile defender Guy Demel is the only new injury concern for the Upton Park outfit with the 33 year old suffering a set-back in training this week. The experienced head is the latest face to grace the physio`s room and is set to join Andy Carroll (ankle), Cheikhou Kouyate (groin), Mark noble (calf) and Joey O`Brien (knee) on the sidelines. Matt Jarvis has sufficiently overcome his niggling thigh issue and is set to feature for the first time this season. Coral and paddy power have the Englishman at 7/1 to come back in top-form with a goal at any time.

Captain Joey Barton and fellow midfielder Jordan Mutch will have to pass fitness tests before being confirmed in Redknapp`s squad though relief comes in the shape of Sandro being declared hit for the clash.

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05/10/2014     © Frixo 2026