21th nov 2009: Hull City – West Ham
Neither side has any real form worthy of holding an advantage over the other, but at least in West Ham’s favour is their run of goals: last 8 games all Over 2. 5 and scoring in all 8 while Hull struggle with goals.
Phil Brown got his last minute reprieve from the Governor last time out with a 90min winner vs Stoke from ex-Celtic talisman JVH. He does bring some options in attack, but that doesn’t help with the leaky defence. Too many soft goals have cost them dear this season, and without any real ‘game changer’ in their midst they rely heavily on the talents of the recently returned Jimmy Bullard.
West ham and Zola should really be doing better than they are. Lot of talent there in the ranks, plus Zola is playing a nice style of football with an eye on building a better future for the Irons. They do compete, but fail to close out winning positions.
They’ve lost 7pts so far from winning positions, and gained only 2pts from losing positions. The main area for them to focus on against Hull is that they are ranked 9th in 1st half form. Hull, on the other hand are ranked 19th.
A quick start will offer them the chance to put the home side under pressure , and the home fans should make sure that nerves play a part.
West Ham played well in coming back from 2-0 down vs Arsenal, and appeared to have carried that form into their next match vs Sunderland when they took a quick 2-0 lead. Unfortunately the same old story of failing to close out a game meant they ended up with 1pt and a 2-2 scoreline against 10 man Sunderland.
They got it right at last with a fine win over Aston Villa 2-1, but followed that with a tame 2-1 defeat by Everton.
All in all I’d have West ham as the better goalscoring side, with the better options in the squad to make a change, but as Hull know each game just now is a ‘must-win to save the Boss’ they could be capable of stepping it up against the lower level sides.
Either way, I see goals, and at odds of 11/10 I’m more than happy to get involved.
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