Blackpool vs West Ham Betting Pick | Eng. Championship

Eng. Championship

2012-02-21 - Blackpool vs West Ham

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Blackpool v West Ham
Football: English Championship
Tuesday 21 February 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm

Blackpool

Ian Holloway was a little disappointed with his team at the weekend as they fell to a 2-0 loss at Everton in the FA Cup as he felt they had not really got their teeth into the game until it was far too late. The disappointment will quickly be put to one side if Blackpool can grab the three points from this game at Bloomfield Road and really state their intentions to grab automatic promotion this season.

The team have been in a great run of form in 2012, a run that has propelled them up to 5th in the Championship and only 7 points behind Southampton at the top of the table with the chance to close to just 2 points behind West Ham in the race for an automatic promotion spot with a win here. They have been tough to play at Bloomfield Road where they are 9-5-2 this season, scoring 25 goals and conceding 11.

Blackpool are unbeaten in all 7 games they have played in the Championship in 2012, managing to pick up the three points in 5 of those games. They are unbeaten in 8 games in a row here at Bloomfield Road and they had won 3 in a row before a disappointing 1-1 draw against Portsmouth last time out here.

Gary Taylor-Fletcher looks to be ruled out as is Alex Baptiste. Matt Phillips should be back in the squad and we have to expect some changes to the team that lost at Goodison Park.

West Ham

West Ham did not play at the weekend and that has seen them slip off the top of the Championship although they remain the favourites for automatic promotion with the squad at their disposal. However, there will be some pressure on the side in this game as they know they will have a host of teams around them if they do lose.

The Hammers moved down to 2nd in the Championship courtesy of Southampton's 4-0 win over Derby County at home, although they will be back on top if they do win this game. That is a possibility judging by their 8-3-4 away record, scoring 22 goals and conceding 16, giving them the joint most home wins in the League this season so far.

They have won just 1 of their last 3 games in the Championship, including a 1-1 draw at Upton Park with Southampton last week. West Ham have struggled away from home in recent weeks, winning just 1 of their last 6 away games in all competitions and actually losing 4 of those. The team have kept just 1 clean sheet in those 6 games and still have to exorcise the demons from a 5-1 loss at Ipswich Town in their last away game.

Matt Taylor and Kevin Nolan are both suspended for this game. Papa Bouba Diop is absent through injury, while Guy Demel is going to need a late fitness test.

Head to Head

West Ham beat Southampton 4-0 at home earlier this season and will hope to repeat their 1-3 win here from last season.

That loss for Blackpool came when both were still Premier League sides and all 4 goals were scored in the first half.

Prediction

This is a tough game to predict a winner from as both have been in decent form, although I think the edge has to be given to the home side who have really been playing to a high level since the turn of the year.

However, I am focusing on the goals market and I believe the 'Overs' has been underestimated with the way Blackpool play their football.

I can see both sides having chances to score and we could see a few goals with a bit of luck that was missing in the last Blackpool game at Everton when the Overs failed to come in due to the woodwork, players clearing off the line and also a missed penalty.

Blackpool's style of play will always leave them open to conceding goals but also scoring and West Ham are more than capable of getting on the scoreboard with the attacking players they have at their disposal.

My biggest concern is the state of the Blackpool pitch which was not having a good time when they drew 1-1 with Portsmouth here. However, the weather has taken a turn for the better in the last couple of weeks so I am hoping it will be fine and allow us to take the 2.30 off the layers hands.