6th Feb 2014 | Premier League
Bore Draw Specialists Head to Villa Park
Big Sam has key defenders fit again and consecutive clean sheets have followed. A third of West Ham away games have ended 0-0.
West Ham are a peculiar side. It’s February and they still sit in the relegation zone, yet their tally of 11 clean sheets in 24 league matches is the joint-best in the top flight alongside leaders Arsenal.
It doesn’t take a genius to work out why the Hammers find themselves in the bottom three, but I’ll tell you anyway; they have failed to find the net in 10 games themselves. Exactly a quarter of the league fixtures involving Sam Allarydce’s boys in 2013-14 have ended 0-0.
Many times ‘Big Sam’ has certainly welcomed the stalemate, particularly away from Upton Park where four of 12 clashes have drawn a pair of blanks. He was particularly thrilled with that result at Stamford Bridge last week and he may strive for more of the same at Villa Park this weekend.
Andy Carroll will be suspended while Paul Lambert’s boys remain over-reliant on Christian Benteke. Given West Ham’s statistics at both ends of the park, backing ‘no goalscorer’ in this one at best odds of 10/1 (Boylesports) looks like the canny play.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 10:54 6th Feb, 2014 but subject to change
