West Ham And Swans Battle Hopelessly Tight

Two of the league`s surprise packages go head-to-head tomorrow (7th December, 13:30) with West Ham United hosting Swansea City.

Fifth placed West Ham have lost only twice in their last ten games and are on a run of five without a defeat at home. Swansea, in seventh position, know that they could usurp the Hammers with a win and will fancy their chances after seeing off the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal already this season.

It will, though, be advantage United, with a number of key faces set to return for the East London side, justifying their installation as the pre-match 7/5 (Bwin, Stan James) favourites.

Perhaps the most important players in this regard are seven-time goal scorer Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia, who has scored five. The Upton Park outfit`s highest scoring players are due to lace up their boots once again after making full recoveries from their respective injuries.

Ecuadorian Valencia played 25 minutes in the side`s 2-1 victory over West Brom at the Hawthorns in the mid-week and should start. Captain Kevin Nolan and experienced centre-back James Tomkins were on-target in their club`s second straight win.

Their first saw the Hammers polish off Newcastle United in a 1-0 victory, a result that saw the Magpies fall to their first defeat in six winning games. Aaron Cresswell netted his first Premier League goal early in the second half.

Manager Sam Allardyce should also be able to select Alex Song who is expected to feature after returning to full fitness following a knee problem, but will be without Mark noble (calf).

United are only the slight favourites over Gary Monk`s Swansea who are 23/10 to pick up the win themselves. Most bookmakers are offering 12/5 on the game ending a draw. Such odds suggest that most people expect the tie to be close with betway offering 9/10 on their being a single goal in it.

The Swans successfully bounced back after falling to an away defeat against Premier League champions Manchester City, tying 1-1 with Crystal Palace and defeating Queens Park Rangers by two goals to nil. Their sole scorer against City, Wilfried Bony hit past Julian Speroni in the Palace goal in the opening 20 minutes before Mile Jedinak converted a penalty to level up.

Goal scoring duties fell to Ki Sung-yueng and Wayne Routledge who both hit the back of the net in the closing stages against QPR to seal the victory at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea`s top scorer with six in all competitions, Ivory Coast star Bony is the 15/8 (bet365, ladbrokes) favourite to add to his tally at any time. A former Hammers` transfer target, the 25-year-old poacher is also available at 11/2 (Numerous) to break the deadlock and can be backed at 12/1 (paddy Power) to hit his second brace of the season.

Whilst it would be an exaggeration to say that Monk is in the midst of an selection crisis, he will be without a pair of defensive faces that will make his life a little harder. Having only played seven times this season before coming unstuck with a calf complaint, Federico Fernandez remains out.

The Spanish centre-half will be joined on the sidelines by Neil Taylor who incurred a suspension after collecting five yellow cards.

As a result, betway have priced up the Hammers at 13/20 to score over 1.5 goals. Indeed, the Claret and Blue trio of Sakho, Valencia and Andy Carroll can be backed at 2/1 (Bwin) and 21/10 (Valencia and Carroll: ladbrokes) respectively to score past Lukasz Fabianski at any time.

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06/12/2014     © Frixo 2026