The Hammers won at the eighth time of asking last weekend, thus bringing their miserable winless run to an end. However, it’s one thing shutting out a Sunderland side having a bad time at home, but quite another stopping a Liverpool team who are intent on winning the Premier League title this season.
It’s no surprise to see double figure quotes available (12/1 Coral) about an away win on Monday night, especially as the Reds are unbeaten at Anfield this season. Nevertheless, manager Gianfranco Zola will be encouraged by Fulham and Stoke’s goalless draws in the same fixture this term, while only one of Pool’s five wins at home have been by more than a one-goal margin. West Ham are 4/1 (Stan James) to land a valuable point.
Therefore, can you put your trust in Liverpool at 1/3 (Blue Square) when their last five league matches at Anfield have resulted in 0-0, 3-2, 1-0, 3-0 and 0-0 scorelines? Only West Brom have been outclassed, and with the Hammers starting to look sharper defensively, surely Draw HT Liverpool FT offers better value at 7/2 (Ladbrokes)? The above results also indicate that the Merseyside club are likely to enjoy a clean sheet, which is on offer at 4/6 with Paddy Power.
Rafael Benitez will be hoping that Fernando Torres can be the difference for his team, although the Spaniard is predictably short in the betting to score first (3/1 William Hill) and at any time (5/6 bet direct). Dirk Kuyt is a value alternative (5/1 Blue Square), while Craig Bellamy is 12/1 (Paddy Power) to score the first or last goal of the match against his former club. I will be having a dabble on the Reds winning by a 1-0 (13/2 totesport) and 2-0 scoreline (11/2 Stan James), a policy which worked well when they recent played at Bolton.