English Prem 13th/14th/15th Feb

[Napoleon Solo]

Aye, forgot about Reo Coker and Etherington. Been very impressed with them both this season. And with Birmingham lacking anyone good enough to mark these two out of the game (Butt would have been ideal) i can see the Iron creating lots of chances tonight.

I just hope Benayoun is fit tonight. I reckon they'll still win without him but the Hammers always seem more resiliant at the back with him in place.

Good luck Kiko!

[farnerud]

Arsenal's defence is terrible at last matches but they play more concentrated at important clashes like Man Utd match. When I think consider Liverpool's scoring problems under is the best bet for me and I expect a score lik 0-0 or 1-0.

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Definately couldn't argue with that Farnerud.

If Arsenal were full strength i'd be giving this a miss but with the defensive problems and away form they have, and current form to a certain degree i would make Liverpool worthy favourites here.

Good luck

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Just reading on Sky Sports News there that Chris Sutton is now a doubt and will be having a late fitness test to see if he can play.

This could be another huge bonus for those on West Ham if he doesn't make it.

[PTDSEI]

Ive a very strange feeling that Julian gray will get the 1st goal @ 20/1, or for the brave 100/1 to get the only goal

Small bet on Gray first scorer @ 20s and a tiny bet on Brum 1-0 with Gray first scorer @ 100 :loon

Gray has been doing OK as of late (well from what Ive seen) and scored a couple lately.

[Keith]

Liverpool v Arsenal

I won't be joining the queue of punters who are trying to take advantage of Arsenal's demise.

Why? Because I do not consider that Liverpool's price represents any value whatsoever. I accept that they are capable of winning but there is a danger here of exaggerating Arsenals woes.

Arsenal have beaten Boro, Birmingham and Wigan recently and they also drew with Bolton and Man U.

Their defeats came against in form teams and even then it was by a narrow margin on each occasion.

I assume that Toure and Eboue should both now be available to help shore up the defence.

Liverpool are not setting the world alight. They themselves have only won 2/7. The win at Wigan was not a sparkling effort. It was against an average team who had no strikers. Lets not forget that it is less than 7 days since Charlton beat Liverpool.

I didn't see the L'pool/Wigan game but here is a quote from a normally biased Liverpool Echo.


"Success here wasn't impressive enough to suggest Liverpool have done much more than take a step out of the rut they've found themselves."


In fact the more I think about it I find that I maybe talking myself into a small punt on Arsenal as that is where the value may lie.

[mrmuzeman]

Imo WAS your confusing home and away form here cos theres a big difference between the 2 for me. Both teams being much better at home.

Arsenal have beaten Boro, Birmingham and Wigan recently and they also drew with Bolton and Man U.

All those 5 results bar Birmingham were at home. Also they lost to Wigan as well as beating them, which one did they lose? The away leg.

I also think Liverpools uninspiring run is down to 5 of those 7 games you mention being on the road. We all know Liverpool can be dodgy away from home but are much much better at home.

Im not definitely going to be on Liverpool here bit I think 6/5 is very backable as they look to have around a 50/50 chance of winning here for me.

[Man In The Know]

I fancied brum to get something from this game originally as west ham now won six on the bounce ,scoring at least 2 goals in each game , so i figured they are due a draw or defeat , especially as most of the goals they have scored have been wonder strikes and this surely cant go on .

But after reading this about the brum team tonight it now appears as the happy hammers should bag another 3 points .

Birmingham
Chris Sutton, Matt Upson, Martin Taylor, David Dunn, Muzzy Izzet, Stan Lazaridis, Neil Kilkenny and Olivier Tebily are injury doubts while Emile Heskey and Damien Johnson are suspended. Skipper Kenny Cunningham (groin) has a chance of being fit.

I backed brum away to torquay in the cup ,and it ended 0-0 ,but torquay dominated for long spells without being able to break through , and if west ham do the same they will surely net a couple here against the ravaged blues ! Brum have lost 7 of 12 away ,and not scored in 7 of those games . They havent got a bad record at upton park

Team	Won	Lost	Drawn	Goals for	Goals against
WEST HAM UNITED	17	14	10	80	54
BIRMINGHAM CITY	14	17	10	54	80

which would of backed up my original opinion of a west ham lay , had it not been for the team news , as it is now though , i must go for a home win , as west ham do attack at home and play good football asnd nearly always score , wheras brum with not much attacking talent probably wont score here , making the 10/11 with betfred look a cracking price .


I wouldnt go overboard on this as it doesnt feel quite right backing west ham after originally wanting to lay them , but taking everything into account i`ll have small a bet on west ham at the 1.93 currently available on betfair .

regards

Man In The Know

[Man In The Know]

My thoughts about the liverpool game are that liverpool are in a right rut , their strikers just arent doing it , they beat us on saturday with 1 strike from sammi hypia ,and that was all they offered ! Whilst arsenal battered bolton for 90 minutes ,yet only got a 1-1 draw thanks to an inspirational performance from bolton stopper jaaskelainen. I can see arsenal scoring here at the very least ,wheras liverpool may not ,with their strikers something of a joke ! For me my early thinking is to lay liverpool .


Also i couldnt be having blackburn ,as since beating man utd theyve gone right off the boil , and sunderland battle till the end whilst getting no luck , they got a little luck yesterday against spuds , and they are playing rovers at the right time , its sure to be a battle ,and the mackems will love that , though i wouldnt back them it wouldnt surprise me if they won here . Blackburn have been outmuscled recently against west brom 2-0 , where they created nothing , they got outclassed at west ham 4-2 , and staurday was the worst yet , as despite everton having their keeper sent off , they didnt create anything AGAIN ,and everton won the game 1-0 , but had a further 3 goals ruled out for offside , 2 of which werent offside ! Not a team you want to be backing at 4/9 , they might win ,but taking 4/9 on these sorts is the quick road to the poor house

regards

Man In The Know

[el guapo]

Liverpool's centre back's will be their downfall tomorrow, although they are both great defenders Hyypia & Carragher both lack real pace and therefore i'd expect them to play very deep tomorrow to cover themselves against Henry's speed. Bolton have showed against Arsenal how to get a result; the battering ram up front, wide players pinning the full backs back (Arsenal's wide midfielders don't track back) and central midfielders breaking from deep.

What i can see happening tomorrow is Hyypia & Carragher playing from the edge of their box, Gerrard & Alonso picking the ball up deep in midfield and trying to hit long balls up to the static Morientes (i believe Crouch is carrying a knock).

I feel Arsenal would take the draw and watching Liverpool recently they still struggle to play football when Gerrard is not 100%.
My call for tomorrow is 0-0 or 1-1.

[Swooperman]

West Ham v Birmingham

Soccernets preview:
Alan Pardew will always be grateful to Steve Bruce for some sound advice during one of the toughest periods of his managerial career, but aims to do the Birmingham boss no favours on the pitch.

When Pardew wanted to take on the challenge of his current job at West Ham in September 2003, Reading initially refused to let him go, and attempted to obtain a court injunction to prevent him from being employed by a competing club.

Eventually it was agreed he could assume control of the Hammers, but on the condition he take one month's ``gardening leave'' and the east-London club pay #380,000 in compensation.

It was at that time when Bruce called Pardew to pass on some words of wisdom from his own experience of such a troubling situation, an unexpected show of solidarity from a colleague which meant a lot to the Hammers chief.

``When I moved to West Ham from Reading and I had a court case pending, and gardening leave, Steve rang me, because obviously he had a situation at Crystal Palace as well,'' Pardew recalled.

``His advice wasn't easy to hear, but it was very good advice and he helped me big-time because it was a difficult period and not something any manager wants to go through.''

With 38 points already on the board following an impressive return to the Premier League after winning the play-offs last May, the pressure is relieved to some extent - which Pardew believes can help his side maintain their free-flowing style.

``We are in a position to attack the next few games because we are not desperate for a result,'' he said. ``In some ways, we can tear into teams and see what we get.''

Pardew added: ``I am sure it will be an attractive game because Birmingham are desperate for a win. That might make it an open game - and we have been involved in a few of those.''

Bruce has admitted he made a ``big mistake'' in only having three senior strikers at his disposal for the first half of the season.

Bruce had only Emile Heskey, Mikael Forssell and Walter Pandiani to call upon after the departure of Clinton Morrison to Crystal Palace.

With Forssell struggling for fitness and Pandiani out of form, it left a huge responsibility on the shoulders of Heskey even though the former Liverpool player responded in positive fashion.

Blues were woefully lacking in goal-power and only in January was Bruce able to redress the situation, off-loading Pandiani but bringing in Sutton and Brentford's FA Cup hero DJ Campbell.

Bruce told PA Sport: ``For five months we basically had Heskey on his own and he did an excellent job.

``Walter failed to reproduce what he had shown when on loan last season and the injuries to Mikael, and the time needed to get over them, have been well documented. We went into the season with three strikers. Possibly that was a big mistake in hindsight. We took a gamble there and it left us short and we couldn't do anything about it until the transfer window.''

With Heskey suspended and Sutton struggling to overcome a groin problem, Bruce may have to give a full debut to Campbell at West Ham.

It would be a massive step up for a player who was with non-league Yeading last season but Campbell showed enough in 20 minutes as a substitute against Arsenal to suggest he can make the grade.

Bruce said: ``In those 20 minutes, DJ was never fazed at all. You can see he is desperate to do well. He has worked in a warehouse for two to three years and is determined to try and take this opportunity.

``I personally think he is going to have a big important role to play over the next eight to ten weeks and he might nick us a couple of goals which could help to keep us in the Premier League.''

Sutton, Matthew Upson, Martin Taylor, David Dunn, Muzzy Izzet, Stan Lazaridis, Neil Kilkenny, Olivier Tebily are major injury doubts while, in addition to Heskey, Damien Johnson is also suspended.

But skipper Kenny Cunningham has a chance of being fit after his groin injury while Martin Latka and Campbell will return after being ineligible for the FA Cup-replay victory over Reading.

....I've been thinking about this all day as I really cant see anything other than a West Ham win tbh.....but I had to convince myself I wasnt being biased Birmingham need something here really but injuries arent helping. I'm sure Cunningham was supposed to be out longer than this & he may well be rushing back.
West Ham have won 6 on the bounce & apart from 2 games over xmas, have scored in their last 15 games, with 15 in the last 6.
I was swaying towards over 2.5 goals but I cant convince myself that Blues will score & 3-0 is too much of a gamble I think.

West Ham 10 points @ Stan James 4/5

[Keith]

Teams;

West Ham
S Hislop, L Scaloni, A Ferdinand, D Gabbidon, P Konchesky, Y Benayoun, H Mullins, N Reo-Coker, M Etherington, D Ashton, M Harewood
Subs: S Bywater, C Dailly, T Sheringham, Y Katan, B Zamora

Birmingham
M Taylor, M Melchiot, K Cunningham, A Bruce, J Gray, J Pennant, M Latka, S Clemence, J Jarosik, C Sutton, M Forssell
Subs: N Vaesen, J Clapham, D Campbell, M Painter, M Birley

[Swooperman]

Sutton made it eh ?? Thats got me thinking on the overs again

[Swooperman]

Whilst we're at it, heres the Liverpool/Arsenal preview from soccernet:

Rafael Benitez is calling on referees and football authorities to protect the top players by taking a tougher stance on dangerous tackles.

The Liverpool boss - whose team face Arsenal in the Barclays Premiership on Tuesday - was appalled by the tackles he witnessed over the weekend.

He is still fuming over the fact that goalkeeper Jose Reina is completing a three-match ban thanks to a `dive' by Chelsea forward Arjen Robben, while potentially career-threatening tackles have gone relatively unpunished.

Benitez appeared to be referring to the two-footed tackles by Bolton's Abdoulaye Faye on Jose Antonio Reyes and a similar lunge by Arsenal's Mathieu Flamini on Bolton's Ricardo Gardner in the fractious match at Highbury on Saturday.

Neither was punished by a red card.

``I was surprised,'' said Benitez. ``I cannot understand why Reina cannot play in three games for a red card which was awarded because a player decided to dive.

``Then you see the tackles that have occurred over the last weekend. I think we need to protect the players; maybe we need to show more yellow cards.

``Sometimes you try to explain, but maybe more yellow cards would be the right idea.

``Then you can protect players. There is a World Cup soon, and every player wants to be fit. They don't want to be injured.

``If referees show more yellow cards then players will be alert, and things will be different. It means you can see more good football and not the sort of tackles we have seen lately.

``I try to tell my players to play fair. I do not like to see diving. It is right to protect the players from such things and from bad tackles.

``That is more important, because you see a lot of players getting badly injured.''

Benitez will make a late decision on the availability of striker Peter Crouch, whose heel injury kept him out of the victory at Wigan.

He is considering using Robbie Fowler - who has an outstanding scoring record against the Gunners - from the start again.

The Anfield chief is well aware of the significance of the club's next three games; first Arsenal, Manchester United in the FA Cup on Saturday and then away to Benfica in the Champions League next Tuesday.

``We have three important games in three important competitions now in eight days - and we are ready,'' he promised.

``Arsenal are close to us, and we have to beat them to continue going forward.

``I respect Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. As a manager, he has achieved a lot in this country.

``His teams always play well, and that long run of unbeaten games last season says it all about them.

``I enjoy seeing Arsenal play the game, but I will enjoy it more after we have beaten them.''

Gilberto insists Arsenal can save their crumbling season by following Liverpool's road map to European glory.

The Gunners campaign will be defined by two games in the next eight days; Tuesday's crucial Barclays Premiership clash at Anfield and next week's trip to Real Madrid.

The Champions League remains Arsene Wenger's only hope of silverware this season and he is anxious to boost confidence ahead of the trip to the Bernabeu Stadium by winning at Liverpool.

Beating the European Champions would inject new belief into the Highbury ranks that they could topple Real's Galacticos and go all the way in the Champions League.

Gilberto said: ``We can still make it a great season. People don't talk too much about Arsenal and this is good because you can do your job in peace.

``On the pitch you can do your best and try to win the game. Anything can happen in football.

``Liverpool last year didn't do very well in the championship but in Champions League they won. It's a similar kind of situation.

``You can see all the time in football that if you are prepared you can do something special.

``Now it can change for us. We are fighting for a better position in the championship and we have another Champions League game in front of us and we can make everything different.''

Wenger's men can move within a point of fourth-placed Tottenham if they win at Anfield.

But the Gunners have taken only 12 points from 12 games on their travels this season, while Liverpool have only lost once at home, to champions Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Wenger's injury problems show little sign of easing.

Jose Reyes is ruled out of the Liverpool game after an injury suffered in the controversial tackle from Bolton's Abdoulaye Faye on Saturday.

Reyes says his leg is not broken as first feared but is waiting for the results of MRI scans to find out exactly how long he will be out.

Dennis Bergkamp is also out after pulling a calf muscle in training on Sunday and Wenger's squad flew to Merseyside without nine injured players.

[JohnB2]

Any word on Arsenals african defenders going awol after the cup of nations.
Players tend to after this sort of thing....hopefully will do in this case.......Going against arsenal will be much better proposition if the two africans are missing