West Brom vs West Ham betting

West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United face off on Sunday afternoon in what is a crucial match for both sides having slipped off the pace in recent weeks. Both teams have struggled of late, especially West Brom who have lost three in succession, whilst West Ham have picked up just one win in their last four. The home side have slipped out of the European places having reached as high as third in the table this season and will aim to jump back above Tottenham and Everton who have overtaken them in the last few games. Meanwhile, West Ham have fallen back into the second half of the table with 22 points from 16 games after being leapfrogged by Liverpool following their 3-2 defeat home defeat  last weekend. Choose a free bet for this match.

West Brom’s Recent Results:

Arsenal 2-0 West Brom
West Brom 0-1 Stoke
Swansea 3-1 West Brom (Lukaku)
Sunderland 2-4 West Brom (Gera, Long, Lukaku (pen), Fortune)

Despite a sensational start to the season for West Brom, they have found themselves in a poor run of form, almost immediately slipping out of third as soon as they had got there. Losses to Swansea, Stoke and Arsenal have seen them drop to sixth and they will be desperate to come away with three points on Sunday.

A lack of goals have been a major factor in their severe drop in form, scoring just once since their 4-2 win against Sunderland three weeks ago. Shane Long has been West Brom’s leading striker this season, netting seven times this season, whilst Romelu Lukaku and Peter Odemwingie are not far behind with five and four goals respectively.

It’s been West Brom’s home form that has helped them to challenge the top teams in the Premier League winning six of their eight games at The Hawthorns. They have also conceded just six goals at home this season, bettered only by Stoke who have conceded just twice. However, all six goals have come within their last five home games, having just kept one clean sheet since September, that against Southampton over a month ago.

West Ham United’s Recent Results:

West Ham United 2-3 Liverpool (Noble (pen), Gerrard (og))
West Ham United 3-1 Chelsea (Cole, Diame, Maiga)
Manchester United 1-0  West Ham United
Tottenham 3-1 West Ham United (Carroll)

Consistency has been West Ham’s problem this season, portrayed brilliantly by recent results, beating Chelsea 3-1 only to lose to Suarez-less Liverpool last weekend 3-2. Following their promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, West Ham have succeed expectations and have found it comfortable returning to the top flight.

Having had a tough run of games against Tottenham, Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool, West Ham will feel the Christmas period is vital to ensure they stay clear of the bottom section of the table. However, it doesn’t get much easier for the Hammers who take on West Brom, Everton and Arsenal in the space of ten days.

The visitors go into the game without Mohamed Diame who could be out for 12 weeks after he picked up a hamstring injury last weekend against Liverpool. This leaves West Ham struggling going forward with Andy Carroll also sidelined, as well as Ricardo Vaz Te, Jack Collison, Yossi Benayoun and Alou Diarra. Carlton Cole will lead the attack once again having scored just one goal all season.

Betting Preview:

With both sides desperate for a win the form book goes out of the window. Neither side have been comfortable in defence of late and you’d expect this to continue under the added pressure of this match. West Brom have only failed to score in three games this season and, with two of those coming in the last two games, there is only a matter of time before they find the back of the net. Both teams to score is priced at 8/11 with Stan James, Bet365, Betfred and Sky Bet, and over 2.5 goals is 19/20 with Bet365.

Odemwingie has been hit and miss so far but when he scores West Brom win – they have not lost a game when Odemwingie has scored this season. With Long and Lukaku also struggling to find the net it could take a good performance from the experienced striker to help West Brom back to winning form. Betfred have Odemwingie to score and West Brom to win at 10/3.

This will be a tight game between two different teams in a sticky patch of form. Both defences have struggled of late and this should continue in front of the Sky cameras on Sunday. It’s a hard game to predict and although a draw would do very little to either side, don’t be surprised if the sides cancel each other out. A draw is best priced at 13/5 with Bet Victor.

Prediction: West Brom 2-2 West Ham – Best priced at 18/1 with Stan James.

Article by Jack Teague

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