A defeat to Championship winners Reading and draws with Bristol City and Birmingham in recent weeks have really dented the Hammers’ hopes of making a swift return to the Premier League, following relegation from the top flight last season.

Manager Sam Allardyce has had plenty of money to spend but too many mistakes at home this term have really cost the London outfit.

Thankfully for the former Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers boss, their clash on Monday against the Foxes is not at Upton Park.

The Hammers have a three-pronged attack which will be looking to cause the Leicester defence problems away from the pressure of their home fans in the capital.

Carlton Cole and Ricardo Vaz Te (11/8 to score anytime) have 12 and 10 goals this season respectively, with the latter proving to be decent signing, since moving from Barnsley in the January transfer window.

Backed up by attacking midfielder Kevin Nolan (7/1 first goalscorer) making runs from the middle of the park and chipping in goals, the former Newcastle United star also has 12 strikes to his name this term and is certainly worth a look at for first goalscorer at the King Power Stadium.

West Ham go into his game on the back of a frustrating 1-1 draw with Bristol City, which gave Southampton a chance to claim that second automatic promotion spot, which they squandered in a 2-1 defeat to Middleborough.

The Hammers will be looking to keep up the pressure on the Saints but it will not be easy against the Foxes on Monday.

Leicester were touted as potential favourites to earn promotion back to the Premier League this season, having spent plenty in the summer.

Manager Nigel Pearson has seen has side fall out of the race for the play-offs and the squad at the King Power might already have their eyes set on a push for promotion next season.

The Foxes go into their penultimate Championship game on the back of a drab goalless draw with Burnley in their last outing.

That game epitomised where Pearson’s side are at at the moment, with things not clicking in the east midlands.

Leicester still have some quality players in their side and expect the likes of Jermaine Beckford and David Nugent to get chances in this game.

With West Ham being the side with something to play for and the fact Allardyce’s men are away from the pressure cooker that is Upton Park at the moment, the Hammers should take all three points at the King Power Stadium.

Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Much like the title race in Spain, Italy’s Serie A season has gone down to the last game of the season before producing the league winners. Inter Milan are two points ahead of Roma at the top of the league and a win against Siena on Sunday night will see Mourinho’s men retain the Scudetto for another year.

Although Mourinho’s future is in doubt as reports linking him with the hot seat at Real Madrid grow ever stronger, one thing that isn’t in doubt is the result of this match. Siena has already been guaranteed relegation to Serie B after conceding the most goals (66) this season. A huge ten points from safety, the Bianconeri have only won once in their last 11 matches.
Inter Milan are on the cusp of wrapping up an historic treble winning season with the Coppa d’Italia already wrapped up, a win on Sunday seals Serie A, then next Saturday they can claim the Champions League with victory over Bayern Munich in Madrid.

Roma are now clutching at straws. Earlier this week Mourinho stirred things up when he commented that Roma would pay Siena to see off his side and give them the title. In an interview he said: “If it’s true that the president of Siena is happy to beat us and has promised the same prize to his players that he would have given them if they had stayed up, they’ll have extra motivation. And who knows, Roma… might offer some extra money.”

All the money in the world couldn’t buy a Siena win on Sunday and even if Inter don’t have playmaker Sneijder available, they will still have enough options available to pick apart Siena. Bad boy Mario Balotelli is 3.50 to score the first goal.

Back Inter Milan to secure another Scudetto victory with a comprehensive 3-0 win against Siena available at 6.50 with PartyBets.com.

Related posts:

1. Inter Milan’s Great Form Set To Continue
2. Mourinho’s Unsettled But Inter Look Unstoppable
3. Inter Look To Stretch Their Lead In Serie A

ToteSport bookmaker will give you £60 in Free Bets. Click here to check them out.

Blackpool

Holloway’s men hold a slender 2-1 advantage following Saturday’s first-leg at Bloomfield Road but know they will face a sterner examination when travel to the City Ground.

A draw will be enough to take the Seasiders through to Wembley and punters who fancy them to hold Forest can take a price of 5/2, while the win is 4/1.

Blackpool can take heart from the fact they have already beaten Forest on their home turf this season when a goal from leading scorer Charlie Adam earned them a 1-0 win and Holloway is hoping for much of the same.

“Forest know they are brilliant at home. They just know that. You only have to look at their record this season,” Holloway revealed.

“But we’ve got nothing to fear and we’ve got to go there and try to play. A little fillip for us is that we did manage to go there and win 1-0 earlier in the season. Whether it was luck or not, we did it.

“If we can get lucky in this next one then I’ll take it. But we can’t rely on that.”

Adam is 8/1 to bag the first goal, while punters who are predicting a repeat of events at the City Ground back in September can take a price of 50/1.

Forest are usually outstanding at home and are odds on at 8/11 to pick up the victory. They need to win 2-0 (6/1) to prevent it going to extra-time as away goals do not come into play, so it is sure to be an open game.

The last three fixtures between the two sides have also been high scoring affairs with three or more goals scored and punters can take odds of 11/10 on another goal fest.

ToteSport bookmaker will give you £60 in Free Bets. Click here to check them out.

Frank Lampard

A one-sided 2-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday has put the west Londoners within one win of seeing off the challenge of defending champions and nearest challengers Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side beat Sunderland 1-0 later on Sunday but must now beat Stoke at Old Trafford next weekend and hope Carlo Ancelotti’s men stumble against Wigan at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard, on target against Liverpool, highlighted the fact that the lead had changed hands so many times this season when insisting the Chelsea players would take nothing for granted.

“It would be nice to do it in front of our own fans,” said the England midfielder.

He added: “Obviously Manchester United have a tough game but we’ll never go that far (thinking they have already won). We have a big game next week.”

Chelsea appeared to have lost momentum in December last year when they won just two out of six Premier League games.

However, they can end the season by winning the double if they also beat Portsmouth in the FA Cup final on May 15 (1/4 Chelsea 4/1 draw 8/1 Portsmouth – match betting).

Lampard said the players had drawn inspiration from their desire to overhaul United and revealed they are determined to finish the season with a flourish.

“We’ve got an FA Cup final after next week so we’re very determined,” he added.

“We were at a bit of a low point a couple of months ago so credit goes to the players, management and staff.

“We dug ourselves out of that and have pushed on to the brink of doing the double.”

Carlo Ancelotti felt Chelsea gained the upper-hand by beating Liverpool but revealed he would not alter his preparations for next Sunday’s showdown with Roberto Martinez’s men.

“It was the key game I think for the fight for the title and we played very well,” said the Italian.

The former AC Milan boss added: “The team is fit, mentally very good and we have to have confidence for the next game. We have to stay calm, train well like we did the last week and prepare well. Nothing special.”

ToteSport bookmaker will give you £60 in Free Bets. Click here to check them out.