Eng. Championship
2012-05-07 - West Ham vs Cardiff City
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – Championship
Play-Off Semi Final 2nd Leg
Monday 7th May 2012 – Kickoff: 1630hrs
(West Ham lead 2-0 after first leg)
West Ham will look to close out the 2nd leg when Cardiff City come to Upton Park looking to claw their way back into the semi final.
West Ham United
The Hammers had to endure an explosive start from the Welshmen in the first ten minutes at the Cardiff City Stadium with West Ham keeper Robert Green called upon to deny Kenny Miller. Luckliy for West Ham, that was pretty much all Cardiff had in their locker to throw at them and they controlled the match thereafter.
West Ham dominated the midfield through the experience of Kevin Nolan and Mark Noble, and assisted by Gary O’Neil and Matty Taylor. They crucially nullified the threat from Cardiff’s influential midfielder Peter Whittingham and restricted the space in which to move in, and this was a major contributing factor in their away win.
Ricardo Vaz Te was a constant threat from a wide position, while Jack Collison is relieving the scoring workload from Carlton Cole allowing the big front man a bit of extra room, and he himself was a problem all match for the Cardiff defence.
Cardiff City
Cardiff started well and were unlucky not to take the lead early on, but after the visitors had weathered the storm, the Bluebirds just drifted out of the match and caused very few problems in the second half.
If Cardiff are to get back into the second leg, they really need the likes of Cowie, Gunnarsson and Lawrence to get stuck in in the middle of the park and free up some space for Whittingham to operate and service Miller and Mason up front.
Manager Malky Mackay may opt to include Earnshaw from the off on Monday afternoon as they chase down a 0-2 deficit, but I feel this will open them up for West Ham counter-attacks. The battle in midfield is the key area again for this tie I reckon, and West Ham definitely hold all the aces in this department, and if they’re allowed to dominate again, it’ll be another straight-forward win for The Hammers.
The Betting Verdict :
West Ham won’t sit back and take a draw here, they’ll be wanting to close the tie out in front of an expectant Upton Park crowd and I’ll back them to win again 2-0.
The Pick :
West Ham 2-0 Cardiff City
BEST BETTING TIP :
Main Pick :Take a bet on West Ham to win @ 1.70
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
