English Premier
2012-08-25 - Swansea vs West Ham United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 25 August 2012 - Kick Off 12:45pm
This game is live on TV
Swansea
Michael Laudrup could not have asked for a better start to his time at the Liberty Stadium as he saw his side thump Queens Park Rangers 0-5 away from home and now the TV cameras are in town to show their second game of the season. Swansea were one of the teams a lot of people, myself included, tipped for relegation, but they have to be careful in thinking one result is proof they will be retaining their place in the Premier League.
All the Swans have to do is look at the last team that thumped QPR at Loftus Road to open the Premier League season- if they do that, they will notice Bolton Wanderers are now playing in the Championship despite winning 0-4 in London to open last season. The home form is likely to be key for Swansea again this season having finished 8-7-4 here last season, scoring 27 goals and conceding 18.
They did finish last season with just 1 League defeat from their last 5 games, but there were still a couple of signs that teams were finding them out towards the end of the season, especially at the Liberty Stadium. 3 of their 4 home defeats actually came in their last 7 League games here, while 16 of their 18 home goals conceded were within the last 11 games.
Scott Sinclair is expected to be sold in this transfer window so he may be left on the bench again despite scoring last week. Garry Monk is ruled out, while Chico should recover from a knock to take his place in the defence.
West Ham United
Sam Allardyce knows what it takes to keep a side in the Premier League and he saw his West Ham United side make the perfect start last weekend with a 1-0 home win over Aston Villa. Allardyce won't let that result go to his players heads and will ensure they realise there is a lot of hard work still ahead of them.
The side actually did play well last week and were the deserved winners, perhaps even deserving to win by a larger margin than the final score. West Ham actually had a harder time at Upton Park last season than they did away from home and they will be looking to bring in their form that saw them finish with a 13-6-4 record, scoring 40 goals and conceding 22.
It will be a big reversal of fortune if West Ham can do that as they struggled mightily away from home in their last stay in the Premier League. In fact, the Hammers have won just 2 of their last 37 away games in the top flight, losing 22 of those. West Ham are unbeaten in their last 9 away games, although those were all in the Championship.
Jack Collison is the only absentee in the West Ham squad ahead of this game.
Head to Head
These teams have moved up and down the English football pyramid over the last few years, but have constantly missed being in the same Division and haven't played since the 1998/99 season, that coming in the FA Cup.
This match represents the first League meeting between them since the 1982/83 season.
Swansea beat West Ham 1-0 at their old home ground in the FA Cup tie during the 1999 season. That win also snapped a 4 game losing run at home against the Hammers.
Prediction
This is a tough game to predict as I think the home side might be a little short considering what many considered their prospects for the coming season and that price seems to have been based on their result last week.
In saying that, West Ham need to come here and prove they are capable of performing better away from home than when they were last in the Premier League, although I do expect Sam Allardyce to make them more difficult to beat on their travels.
The win-draw-win market looks a tough one to call and I do need to see West Ham in action away from home before I think about taking them to avoid defeat at odds on.
However, I do expect West Ham will get on the scoreboard here as Swansea struggled to keep clean sheets in the back end of last season and conceded the majority of their goals at home in the latter part of the year.
The question then becomes whether Swansea will be as clinical in front of goal as they were last week? They do have players that could create chances and they did seem a little more direct in their attacking approach rather than purely wanting to keep possession as they seemed happy to do last season.
I have a gut feeling we are going to see at least 3 goals in this one and that has been offered at odds against, something I'll have a small interest in.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Swansea 2-1 West Ham United
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back Over 2.5 Goals @ 2.10
