Preview - Swansea vs. West Ham

After a fantastic result vs Tottenham I was thoroughly hoping for an even better one against Man City; sadly this was not to be. It wasn't a bad performance but it was a true display of how different the class is at the top. It wasn't a bad performance from West Ham but it was far from vintage.

Swansea come into this game on the back of a bitterly disappointing late draw in the Europa League.

Three points will be welcomed by both teams at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday as Swansea take on West Ham, with just five league wins shared between the clubs so far this season. Last week’s 4-0 win over Sunderland was the Swans first home win in the Premier League in nine games. Swans are unbeaten in Europe but is that coming at a cost domestically? West Ham will be hoping that is the case.

West Ham’s high from beating Tottenham impressively did not last as long as Sam Allardyce would have liked. A humbling defeat at home to Manchester City will have brought fans back down to earth, and the game also highlighted their main weakness this season once more. With the club boasting the worst shooting accuracy in the league, 29.6%, posing a goal threat has been a serious issue for the Hammers. The likes of Miaga, Vaz Te and Petric haven’t filled the void of Andy Carroll, and the longer the problem goes on the more it will affect the players, who may start to a look around and question themselves who can score goals for them.

Ashley Williams will be a last minute decision after missing the last five weeks with an ankle problem. Ben Davies also has an ankle injury and will definitely sit out the clash, but Pablo Hernandez may finally be ready to feature after overcoming his hamstring problem.

Allardyce may name an unchanged side for the trip to Wales on Sunday. Carlton Cole is not yet fit enough to play, while Andy Carroll, James Collins, Alou Diarra and George McCartney are still out.

I've gone for a draw in my accumulator and I'll stick with that here. 0-0, 1-1 there wont be many goals in this one.

COYI. 

Preview - West Ham vs. Man City

Who would of predicted an away 3-0 win at White Heart Lane? Certainly not me, who opted for a 3-0 loss in my prediction. Maybe I should predict us to lose more often. A memorable victory, a fantastic result and how about Ravel Morrison's goal.

Manuel Pellegrini will be only too aware of the immediate need to start taking maximum points on the road, if Manchester City are to live up to their title contender tag, and unfortunately for them, Upton Park is becoming a fortress

Coming off the back of an international break and with the crucial midweek Champions League encounter against CSKA Moscow lurking, this fixture poses a tricky selection dilemma for Manuel Pellegrini. Does he try to arrest City’s bleak run of results away from home or will the temptation to rotate prove too strong to ignore?

Man City's obvious threat comes in the shape of Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure, both of which might prove to have too much for West Ham to contain. The absence of captain Kompany is a real bonus for West Ham and if we can push and press Lescott then we can cause real trouble.

In the absence of Andy Carroll, home hopes will naturally centre around the bristling talent of Ravel Morrison in the West Ham midfield, and he's sure to have an influence after scoring both for West Ham and England under 21's recently.

West Ham defender James Collins will miss the visit of Manchester City on Saturday evening after suffering an injury on international duty.

The 30-year-old was replaced just before the hour in Wales' 1-1 draw with Belgium in midweek and Hammers boss Sam Allardyce confirmed he has a hamstring injury.

He joins Andy Carroll and Alou Diarra on the sidelines whilst Carlton Cole, who rejoined the club on a short-term deal last week, is not fit enough to be involved.

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has been ruled out of Saturday's Barclays Premier League trip, while fellow centre-back Martin Demichelis, who is still to make his debut, is also not yet fit.

Midfielder Jack Rodwell is back in contention after a recent spell on the sidelines.

After a great result against Spurs and a City side struggling away I'm going to predict a 1-1 draw.

Kick off is at 17:30 this week.

COYI

Preview - Tottenham vs. West Ham

Last weeks result against lowly Hull is a season low, and it can't get much worse. Again us fans can feel robbed, another bit of bad luck has cost us. A poor referee has stolen any points from us. 

After last week’s disappointing result at Hull City, what better way to pick ourselves up than a London derby with Spurs.

We now have a tough few fixtures ahead of us and I without Carroll we're going to be in real trouble.

If it wasn’t for Gareth Bale’s left foot, we probably would have taken three points from Spurs last season. There we were, wishing that Gareth Bale wasn’t as good as he was and, if all else failed, that he didn’t play for Tottenham.

Well, we got our wish, but at the expense of them spending the £80million Real Madrid paid for him on a group of players that, arguably, make them a lot stronger this time around.

One positive we can touch upon, though, is our shrinking injury list. Stewart Downing and Joe Cole are back fit and raring to go, leaving just Alou Diarra and Andy Carroll as our only remaining long-term absentees.

So what can we expect on Sunday afternoon? It’s certainly going to be a long 90 minutes for us if you go buy the current form of both sides, but you can expect the players to give everything they’ve got. Although, on recent evidence, that probably won’t be much. Don’t get me wrong but, if we can’t score away to Hull City, what chance do we have of scoring away to Spurs.

It is to be hoped that the headlines are driven by what happens on the field, rather than off it where it is to be expected that Tottenham's fans will sing what they want.

Only Olivier Giroud and John Terry have scored against them in 11 games so far. West Ham need a tonic after a poor spell. 

Younes Kaboul will miss out after picking up a knee injury in Spurs’ Europa League win over Anzhi on Thursday night.

Danny Rose, Aaron Lennon and Etienne Capoue are not expected to return until after the international break.

Jermain Defoe’s goal scoring form in the Europa League may go unnoticed, though, with Roberto Soldado expected to get the nod up front.

Each week we have all hoped he would try someone else in place of Modibo Maiga but he has started with him each time. Goals continue to be our problem and, once again, we need to hold our fire until we see or hear the starting line-up. My guess is it will be the same starting XI that played Hull and, if that’s the way it’s going to be, positive predictions are hard to come by.

I'll predict a 3-0 loss, it's not going to be a nice afternoon.

COYI

Preview - Hull Vs West Ham

Another round down after a 3-2 victory over Cardiff has earned us a next round tie against Burnley, we couldn't have got a much better draw there. The win was well earned and showed some good courage to fight back a grab a win after squandering a 2-0 lead after only 8 minutes. 

It was nice to see Ravel on the score sheet again, another eye catching performance from the youngster. And I was happy to see Jarvis get a goal, however sloppy it was. 

Back to the league and what we really need is to bounce back strong after the Everton defeat. Points are slipping away from us again already. Some squad depth is much needed. Last year we ending up not coming away with the right result after leading Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and Man Utd. It happened again last Saturday and for me this is down to a lack of squad depth. Throwing Matty Taylor on with 20 minutes to go is not doing us any favors. (Sorry Matt)

After the season started off so brightly, we’re now staring a must-win game square in the face. A trip to Hull wasn’t exactly the type of game we expected to be worrying about so early on in the campaign.

Mark Noble returns to the side after serving his one-game suspension against Cardiff City on Tuesday night.

Stewart Downing has overcome a dead-leg suffered last month against Stoke City and will be in the squad, while Guy Demel also returns after his thigh injury.

Joe Cole is not quite ready for first-team action, while Andy Carroll is out for the long-term.

The news on  Carroll is less definite. Statements like ”He’s improving day by day at the moment but we’re not putting any timescales on this at all until we see how he’s progressed with the specialists in Belgium. He’ll be back with us as soon as possible” do not fill me with much hope to be honest. I just hope to God we do not have another Dean Ashton situation unfolding here. Ravel Morrison is our shining light at the minute; I'm sure you will all agree.

The hosts are without James Chester has been ruled out for eight weeks with a hamstring problem, while captain Robert Koren will also miss out through an ankle problem.

Maynor Figueroa and Paul McShane are expected to return to the side after compassionate leave and a hamstring injury respectively.

It’s going to be a tough ask to get all three points but, if we play the way have done in our last two outings, there’s every chance of securing a very rare win away from Upton Park.

It's going to be a tough day out and a win is vital, I predict it will be a hard earned smash and grab 0-1 victory for the Hammers.

COYI

Preview - West Ham vs. Cardiff (League Cup)

What can be said about Saturdays game? I feel so hard done by, such a cruel loss after being 2-1 up after 80-or-so minutes. two absolute worldie free-kicks from Baines sunk us when in winning positions. The 3rd time a free kick has un-done us already. What are the chances?

The Noble red card really cost and his second booking was daft and cynical. However the first booking was very soft. But that's football!

The positive I take from it is that we're losing to individual brilliance rather than poor play or defending ourselves. The negative is that we seem to lack this quality ourselves.

I'd like to see Petric start tonight, I feel he did really well when he came on and I am running out of patience with Maiga.

West Ham find themselves wearing thin once again. Key midfielders Joe Cole and Stewart Downing have only just returned to training, and therefore find themselves unfit to play in tonight’s Capital One Cup game.

The Hammers will also have to do without central midfielder Mark Noble, after he was awarded a red card at the weekend in the 3-2 loss at home to Everton.

Cardiff boss Malky Mackay is set to make a host of changes to his side with Nicky Maynard, Mark Hudson, Joe Lewis, Don Cowie, Jordan Mutch and Craig Noone all in contention to feature at Upton Park. Mackay could also opt to hand new signing Peter Odemwingie a first start.

In terms of current form, both sides have started the season on level terms, having won one, drawn two and lost one of their first five Premier League matches.

Tonight’s fixture is of the utmost importance for both teams.

West Ham fans will be particularly up for this match after Saturdays cruel loss to Everton.

I really hope West Ham can go on a cup run this year. We already ready know we can beat Cardiff but anything can happen in the cup.

I predict a 2-1 win for West Ham (after extra time)

COYI 

Preview - West Ham vs. Everton

Another bore draw for West Ham, if it wasn't for a moment of brilliance (or fluke) from Pennant, against Stoke, that would be 3 0-0's in a row; defensively brilliant, offensively shambolic.

The trip to Southampton would have been a dull, disappointing one for our travelling fans, but never the less, a draw away to Southampton is a good result in my eyes.

A point was salvaged by an impressive displays from Jussi who kept West Ham in the game, West Hams best chance unfortunately fell to James Collins who blazed his effort over the bar. West Ham may feel a little hard done by, having a goal ruled out that appeared on side and also seeing Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin remain on the pitch after a nasty tackle on Diame.

Maiga looks lost and I feel sorry for him. I don't think his ability should be questioned but hes fighting a losing battle trying to hold the ball up alone. Some fans might not agree with me but I'd like to see Nolan up front, Nolan has a great eye for goal when presented with the chance, is a real handful for defenders both verbally and physically and I think in midfield he can go missing and often slow down play. This would also give freedom to Ravel to take up to role behind the front man.  

Injury is troubling West Ham who are short of attacking options ahead of Saturday's Premier League match at home to Everton.

Andy Carroll (heel) is proving to be a big loss for the misfiring Hammers whilst the game comes too soon for new signing Mladen Petric, who is still striving to improve his fitness. Joe Cole and Stewart Downing are also missing, while Alou Diarra is a long-term absentee

Loan signing Romelu Lukaku is set for his Everton debut at West Ham having been ineligible for last weekend's fixture against parent club Chelsea.

Fellow striker Arouna Kone is also expected to return to the squad after a knee injury along with midfielder Darron Gibson, who has not featured this season because of a knee injury. Midfielder Steven Pienaar  is rated 50-50 but centre-back Antolin Alcaraz is still recovering from a similar problem.

Gareth Barry isn't everyones cup of tea but put in a great performance on Chelsea. Steady rather than spectacular, he does a great anchoring role, West Ham will have to cut him out in order to get the ball in midfield and create chances.

I am not confident here but we look defensively solid and I think Upton Park is a difficult place to come for any team.

I predict a 1-0 win for West Ham

Enjoy the game. And make Upton Park rock all afternoon.

COYI

Preview - Southampton Vs. West Ham

I returned from holiday bitterly disappointed to find that we had  failed to secure the services of any new players of deadline day, leaving us desperately short up front should Carroll become injured. Alas, another foot injury could set him back until 2014. Typical.

On top of that I quickly scanned to weekend results to find that we had recorded a 0-1 loss to Stoke at home. Sigh. Jermaine Pennant's brilliant free-kick eight minutes from time gave Stoke the win against a lacklustre West Ham.

The substitute's curled effort was enough to give Mark Hughes's side their second consecutive Premier League win.

In more positive news, this was our first defeat of the season and the first goal we had conceded in the Premier League. Put it down to a bad day at the office.

More positives; In comes Mladen Petric on a short term deal. Not a bad deal given the circumstances but I fear he will be a few weeks away from match fitness yet. This leaves an unhappy Vaz Te who clearly expressed a desire to leave the club and struggling Maiga who I still prey will turn good.

Hopefully the International break came at the right time and we can come back refreshed as a squad and in good confidence following the 1-0 friendly win against Espanyol.

After what I hear was an appalling home defeat where we were outplayed by Stoke on our own ground, yes Stoke; we have a difficult away trip to Southampton. Difficult but winnable. 

Both clubs were promoted to the top flight two seasons ago and they held their own to retain their Premier League status last campaign. Its hard to believe these two clubs were promoted finishing below Reading.

Both sides endured frustrating afternoons in their last Premier League outings. The Saints also couldn’t find the net at Carrow Road, going down 1-0 to Norwich. Both teams will be after blood this Sunday looking to put things right.

Southampton will welcome back the nations new sweetheart, Rickie Lambert (just wait till Carroll is back). And Lambert will be looking to continue his good luck with another goal this weekend. The Saints have no other injury worries.

West Ham's unwelcome Carroll news leaves them with a potentially long lay-off on their hands - and has the potential to rock an already goal-shy team. The signing of Mladen Petric might help a bit, but injuries to both Joe Cole and Stewart Downing might mean that Ravel Morrison could have a bigger impact on this game.

West Ham struggled for away form last season and all in all it doesn't add up for a fun afternoon, I remain optimistic however and always believe we can nick a result nowadays.

I predict 1-1.

Get behind the team as always everyone.

COYI.