Eng. Championship
2012-03-27 - Peterborough United vs West Ham
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Tuesday 27 March 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
Peterborough United
Peterborough United have probably done just about enough to be safe from any relegation worries already, but I still expect Darren Ferguson to fire up his troops and urge them to make sure of their own destiny in the final 8 games they have to play this season. A lot of people, myself included, thought Peterborough could be ripe for the drop with their defensive problems, so another season in the Championship would be considered a success.
The team are 18th in the Championship, picking up 44 points from their 38 games which leaves them 9 points clear of Coventry City in the final position of relegation. Posh have a 9-2-7 record at London Road this season, scoring 37 goals and conceding 30, meaning they are the 2nd highest scorers at home, but only two teams have conceded more.
Peterborough have lost 4 of their last 6 games in the Championship, although they have interchanged wins and losses in their last 4 games. They have won 3 of their last 4 games at home and they have scored 3 goals in each of those wins. It is no surprise that this is the highest scoring ground in the Championship as the last 7 games here have all ended with at least 3 goals scored.
Grant McCann is a doubt for Ferguson, which means he may have to make his first change to his starting side in 5 games.
West Ham
For a long time this season, it seemed that Sam Allardyce was going to reach the levels of expectation at Upton Park and earn West Ham an automatic promotion back to the Premier League. However, they have begun to struggle at the wrong time of the season and that leaves them playing catch up with the top 2 in the table.
West Ham are 3rd in the Championship and they are now 9 points behind the leaders Southampton and 4 points behind Reading in the second automatic promotion spot. However, this is a game in hand that they have over those two rivals and will give them a chance to ramp the pressure up before the game with Reading at the weekend. The Hammers have a 10-5-4 record away from home this season, scoring 31 goals and conceding 20.
The team may not have been losing games recently, but they have won just 2 of their last 9 League games and have drawn the last 5 in a row. They have lost just 1 of their last 6 away games in the League, but they have only managed draws in their last 2 although that was perhaps a little more than expected on Saturday when they were trailing 2-0 at Burnley before earning a 2-2 draw.
Julien Faubert and Ricardo Vaz Te are both expected to miss out although they are coming back into contention after recovering from injuries. Abdoulaye Faye is likely to be restored to the side after missing the game at Burnley on Saturday.
Head to Head
West Ham beat Peterborough United 1-0 earlier this season at Upton Park, but this will be their first visit to London Road in 20 years when they came away with a 1-3 win.
Prediction
West Ham are clearly feeling the pressure as the season draws to a close and they just cannot turn draws into wins at the most vital time while their rivals Reading and Southampton both continue grabbing three points.
This game in hand is huge for Sam Allardyce so they can at least put some pressure on Reading before their meeting against one another on Saturday, while any other result will make it seem like the automatic promotion positions are beginning to get away for them.
Peterborough United will be no easy task as they have been playing very well at home in recent games, scoring goals for fun and playing with a little bit of freedom that is afforded to them with a 9 point buffer to the relegation positions.
I am sure Darren Ferguson will see this as a 'free' game in which his side are not expected to take points and anything achieved will be a bonus to their chances of surviving in the Championship. That is not to say that they will look to defend and I can only see the Posh sticking to their philosophies and attacking whenever possible in this game.
This is a rescheduled game that I thought West Ham would win when it was originally due to be played, but their run of draws makes the 2.10 offer little appeal.
Instead, I think it may be worth chancing that the game goes 'Overs' with both sides likely to push forward in search of goals that will help them achieve their respective goals. Peterborough's games at home have seen plenty of goals, and both sides are capable of getting on the scoresheet here.
With the lack of draws achieved by Posh at home, I will look for one of the sides to come through for the win.
The Pick :
Peterborough United 1-2 West Ham
