Two weeks after a memorable victory over Manchester United, relegation threatened Sunderland travel to the Boleyn Ground this weekend in the Premier League, with manager Sam Allardyce making his first and last trip to the stadium where he is revered by many for getting the Hammers back to the top flight following their relegation in 2011.
Although Allardyce’s tenure at the Hammers didn’t quite end on a happy note, he is still a respected figure, with current boss Slaven Bilic saying ahead of the game that big Sam had done “great for West Ham”.
After 26 rounds of the Premier League and plenty of many memorable matches, the Hammers are currently in 7th position. Although that’s a bit of a far cry from the elusive top 4 places that the lads enjoyed in the 6-7th and 10th weeks, they still have good chances at finishing this season well: but first, there’s Sunderland to get through.
If at first beating Sunderland who is currently in the relegation zone (they are second from bottom going into this clash) seems like an easy feat for the Hammers, it’s worth remembering that the last meeting between the two sides ended in a 2-2 draw, plus, the Black Cats just beat Man United 2-1 and drew with Liverpool – not exactly bad results for a team tipped by many for the drop.
However, UK-licensed bookies TonyBet are favouring West Ham with the odds of 19/25 vs the much more modest 37/10 available for Sunderland.
Although the victory against a team like Manchester United can be at least partly attributed to the inexplicable shakiness that the latter are demonstrating, it was still a pretty solid achievement for Sunderland. Not to mention the fact that it has most definitely boosted the players’ confidence as they have realised that victories aren’t as out of reach as they used to seem and that relegation may, in fact, become avoidable.
After a fantastic start to the season, West Ham have hit a mini bump of sorts. They have won only one of their last five games- a 2-0 win against struggling Villa, and dropped points against Newcastle and Norwich. In theory a game against Sunderland should be a done deal, it may be a bit more complicated than that.
If they can muster up the confidence and the courage, the Black Cats may actually pose a bigger problem to the Hammers than you’d normally expect.
Cheikhou Kouyate is available after winning the ban against his red card, but Sakho and Reid will be not risked by Bilic this weekend.
For Sunderland, Duncan Watmore and Jeremain Lens are unvailable.
We shouldn’t be complacent, but honestly, this should be three points for the taking.
West Ham v Sunderland
27 February, 2016- Boleyn Ground- 12.45 UK
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