West Ham United V Wolverhampton Wanderers

Sunday, 10^th January – 15:00 GMT (Sky Sports 1)

West Ham United

League Position: 17th

Recent Form: LLDWL 

Ther Hammers don’t have too long to digest their FA Cup exit as they welcome Mick McCarthy’s Wolves to Upton Park in what appears to be an early six-pointer between two sides destined to be there or thereabouts come May. West Ham fans will believe that they have far more talent on show than their opponents, but will this equate into a winning formula?

Ginafranco Zola was in an optmistic mood at the beginning of the week and claimed there were plenty of positives to take away from their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal. We, however, felt it wasn’t the best performance we’ve seen from West Ham this season, far from it, but there were glimpses that particular areas are improving, more notably in defence. To concede just the two goals, late ones at that, against the country’s most prolific goalscorers takes some doing, although it must be said that Arsenal were without a whole host of attacking players; Fabregas, Van Persie & Arshavin to name but a few.

It’s good to see the West Ham defence rallying around as that is where West Ham have been at their weakest this season, but to concede two goals still shows signs that big improvements are needed, and to concede them both late on clearly shows that West Ham have a distinct lack of concentration at the back. They were, though, a lot brighter on the front foot as they were getting forward with ease, with some slick interchanging allowing them to carve through what should have been a tight and compact Arsenal defence.

However, although they came across no problems getting forward, West Ham’s final play in the final third was abysmal and how they managed to find the goal once was beyond me. They posses players that can take on a defender, Diamanti & Jimenez for example, but both lose their marbles when they enter the opposing penalty area. They weren’t the only culprits, though, and their shy display in front of goal is a big concern as West Ham look lost up front without their star man, Carlton Cole, driving them forward, although the England centre-forward could make his return to the fold against Wolves this Saturday.

If Carlton Cole does play, which we can’t honestly see happening, then West Ham will be a good bet. He provides them with a more reliable outlet. He is a player which can amply hold up the ball but can also finish, which is more than can be said for their remaining strikers. West Ham did manage a victory in their last home outing, though, in a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth so perhaps, considering they are facing another poor opponent, the home factor will get them through another big fixture.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

League Position: 15th

Recent Form: WLWLL

Wolves were another Premiership side who scraped through their opening FA Cup fixture, beating League One outfit, Tranmere Rovers, by a single goal; 1-0. However, the result is all that matters and Mick McCarthy will be hoping the squad can push on now and hit the new year running with a couple of victories as their two upcoming fixtures are certainly winnable. However, Wolves have been pretty shabby on the road this season so perhaps a draw would be just as good as a win at Upton Park, despite West Ham being worse off than them in the table.  

Wolves put themselves in the hat for the fourth round and their victory over Tranmere should be a welcome boost of confidence that the players clearly needed after a tough festive period of fixtures. Mick McCarthy’s side didn’t manage a single point in their two games either side of Christmas, excruciating fixtures at that against Liverpool (2-0) & then Man City (0-3). However, with Wolves faltering over Christmas, the pressure is now on them to register some quick fire points in the new year starting with a very winnable fixture with West Ham. On paper anyway.

If this was at Molineux, with a capacity crowd cheering them on, then perhaps we would pluck up some courage and back Wolves for what would be the first time this season. However, that isn’t the case and Wolves have been a terrible away outfit this season, with the exception of their shock victory at White Hart Lane over Tottenham. Their away record this season stands at 2-2-6, but they’ve lost back-to-back away games since their sublime result over Spurs and have failed to score in three of their last four away outings. On the road, they lack that attacking edge while their defence has left gaping gaps – a recipe for disaster.

Wolves won’t, though, have too many better opportunities this season to win an away fixture than this, and Mick McCarthy will undoubtedly be drumming this fact into the players during the course of the week. Still, even with that said, we can’t see Wolves overhauling West Ham at Upton Park as they’ve generally been a very poor away outfit. At home they have this aurora about them where they storm straight out of the blocks and put their opponents immediately under pressure. They struggle to do this away from home, while their defence has often capitulated when times have got hard and with this we couldn’t touch Wolves even if those tight-fisted Irish bookies paid us to.

Match Verdict: West Ham United to WIN – 1.83 BetFred

We really fancy West Ham’s chances at the weekend as, quite frankly, they won’t have an easier opportunity to notch up three points than a meeting with Wolves at Upton Park. The same will probably be said in the Wolves dressing room but the roar of a home support should ensure that Zola gets the very best out of his players this Sunday. Wolves will be dangerous on the break, but West Ham should dominate in the chances created department, it’s just a case of whether their out-of-confidence forwards can take their chances when they come their way.

Match Odds:

West Ham United – 1.83 BetFred

Draw – 3.50 Bet365

Wolverhampton Wanderers – 4.80 Boylesports

SoccerBetting Value Tip: West Ham to score EXACTLY 3 goals – 11/2 SkyBet