The Hammers take a 2-0 lead into the game thanks to a Jack Collison brace but know they cannot afford to take anything for granted having already lost to the Bluebirds at home this season.

After the disappointment of missing out on automatic promotion on the final day of the campaign, Sam Allardyce’s side bounced back in style at the Cardiff City Stadium as they dominated their Welsh opponents.

However, due to their defensive tactics, they sometimes struggle at home and have dropped an incredible 28 points at Upton Park this season and this is something that will surely play on their minds going into the game.

Much of their fine play in the first leg was down to the ability of striker Carlton Cole (11/10 to score at anytime) to retain possession and allow his team-mates to find space in and around him. The former England man has come in for some serious criticism this season but enjoys the big stage and will once again be looking to play a big part on Monday.

Cardiff have admitted themselves that they were woeful in the first leg and were lucky to escape with just a two-goal deficit.

Malky Mackay’s side were tipped to cause an upset against the Hammers thanks to their recent strong form but they simply failed to produce when it mattered, something that has plagued them in recent years after a number of play-off heartbreaks.

One of the players who disappointed in the first game was playmaker Peter Whittingham (10/3 to score at anytime) whose performances appear to mirror the fortunes of his team. The 27-year-old has long been hailed as the Championship’s most skilful player and was even tipped for a move to Monday’s opponents when they were still in the Premier League.

However, nothing went right for him on Thursday and he was comfortably outplayed by his Hammers counterpart Mark Noble who had one of his best games of the season.

Whittingham will be desperate to rediscover his composure and knows he can get the better of Noble, having dominated him in the sides’ previous meeting at Upton Park on the opening weekend of the season.

As most semi-finals are, this will surely be a cagey affair with both teams desperate not to give anything away. However, West Ham will probably go through and, although they’re likely to concede, Cole’s form and their two-goal first-leg advantage should be enough for them to book their place at Wembley (West Ham 18/1 to win 2-1).

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The two sides have both had fairly inconsistent seasons but know that going into a derby match, the form book goes out of the window and anything can happen when you’re playing not only for a place in the final, but also for local pride.

The Reds (5/2 FA Cup outright) have struggled in the league this year, with perhaps their best result coming in the 3-0 victory over the Toffees at in March. However, their ability to produce a performance out of nothing has suited them in the cup competitions and after winning the Carling Cup, are now targeting a famous double.

Boss Kenny Dalglish has come under criticism for his selection policy throughout this season but one thing is for sure, when captain Steven Gerrard (11/8 to score at anytime) plays, the Reds often succeed.

The influential skipper has once again missed a large part of the campaign through injury but has impressed when he has played, including scoring a hat-trick in the aforementioned win in the recent derby. Gerrard looks as if he is finally starting to gel with striker Luis Suarez and expect the England international to have a major impact on the outcome of this game.

Everton (7/2 FA Cup outright) have once again confounded the critics and despite a few shaky moments, manager David Moyes has once again proved that you don’t need heavy investment to build a solid Premier League team.

The Toffees currently sit seventh in the table, one place above their neighbours and will be confident of winning at Wembley after beating Sunderland 4-0 on Monday, a victory that extended their unbeaten streak in all competitions to five matches.

Their fine form has undoubtedly had a lot to do with the emergence of January signing Nikica Jelavic (11/8 to score at anytime) who has regularly impressed since his move from the SPL. The Croatian has netted four times in as many games and now looks to be justifying the hype that followed him after his transfer from Rangers.

In recent matches, Liverpool have looked shaky in defence, conceding a number of sloppy goals, and after being rested for the victory over the Black Cats, the in-form 26-year-old will certainly be raring to go and will fancy himself to get on the scoresheet.

Both sides will be desperate to win the game but having rested a number of key stars on Monday, Everton might just be fresher going into the match and could just sneak a single goal victory in an extremely tight encounter (Everton 7/1 to win 1-0).

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Germany

Sami Khedira headed home the winning goal to ensure that Europe claims a 1-2-3 at the tournament.

The Germans took the lead in the first half, but Uruguay led 2-1 at one stage after the interval. Thomas Mueller scored his fifth goal of the tournament to edge the Germans ahead, Edison Cavani levelled and then Diego Forlan matched Mueller’s achievement by notching his fifth goal only for Marcell Jansen to make it 2-2.

The Germans had their share of luck, as Forlan hit the bar with a free-kick deep into injury time. And they might have had to play with 10 men for virtually the whole game if the referee had been harsher on Dennis Aogo’s dreadful challenge on Diego Perez.

Germany made most of the early running, forcing Jorge Fucile and Diego Lugano into some desperate clearances. The South American defence was very nearly breached on ten minutes when a deep corner from Mesut Oezil was firmly headed against the bar by Arne Friedrich, with Fernando Muslera beaten. Mueller could not wrestle home the rebound.

But Bastian Schweinsteiger paved the way for Germany’s first goal, his long range shot being spilled by Muslera for Mueller to react quickly and net the rebound.

Forlan had already worried the German rearguard with a blocked back post header from a deflected cross by the time Cavani drew the sides level. Perez superbly picked the pocket of Schweinsteiger in the centre of the park, setting in motion a break that saw the Europeans outnumbered from the outset. Luis Suarez rolled a well-weighted pass to the Palmero striker, who took a touch before stretching to prod the ball by Butt and into the net.

Uruguay might have grabbed the lead four minutes before the break. Forlan’s clever reverse pass released Suarez but the Ajax striker dragged his shot wide from a somewhat awkward angle.

Arevalo Rios found himself uncharacteristically far forward down the right and lobbed a waist-height pass back towards the edge of the box, from where Forlan showed stunning poise to volley home a terrific goal with his right foot.

Germany had posed no serious threat after the interval until they levelled up on 55 minutes. Jerome Boateng’s cross from deep on the right side was badly missed by the out-of-sorts Muslera, allowing Jansen to unconventionally knock the ball into the empty net with his head.

Stefan Kiessling was introduced by Joachim Loew to add some attacking flair at the expense of Cacau. The Bayer Leverkusen man’s clever turn in the box with quarter of an hour brought with it a scoring chance, though his drive was straight at Muslera, who batted the ball uncomfortably clear.

Loew’s side were looking the more likely side to snatch third place, and they did just that with nine minutes remaining. Another deep Oezil corner was allowed to bounce about the six yard box. Khedira ultimately got the decisive touch, sending a clever header looping over Muslera and into the top corner of the net.

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Although Inter Milan and AS Roma are both in the race to lift this season’s Scudetto they are both likely to win comfortably at home on Sunday. The match that carries the most significance for the winners on Sunday will be the clash between 4th placed Sampdoria and 5th placed Palermo.

The winner of this match will only have to win their final game of the season to be guaranteed a place in next season’s Champions League and with the millions of pounds of revenue it generates it will be a great achievement for either of these two clubs.

Sampdoria striker Giampaolo Pazzini has described the clash as more of a “final” than a league game.

Pazzini said: “It will be ‘the game’, a real final. We have a little advantage thanks to the two extra points in the table, but if we were to play for a draw we would make a bad impression.

“For this reason we will go to Palermo and try and win.”
Sampdoria has won every one of their last 5 games and is the form team in Serie A at the moment.

Palermo boast one of the leagues best strikers in Fabrizio Miccoli who is the third highest scorer in Serie A with Sampdoria’s Giampaolo Pazzini being 4th.

The two sides are very evenly matched and a very tight affair should be expected on Sunday. There may well be only a couple of goals in it so the under 2.5 market at 1.90 looks a good bet.

Sampdoria have shown how good they are with a recent win away to league chasing Roma and they will be able to wrap up fourth place this Sunday as well. Back a 1-0 win for Sampdoria at 8.00 with PartyBets.com.

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1. Roma face tough Sampdoria Serie A Title Test
2. Can Inter Milan win Coppa D’italia, Serie A + Champions League treble?
3. Genoa Close Gap on Sampdoria with 3-0 Win

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With just two or three games left for all the teams involved, no club has taken a firm grasp on fourth position in the Premier League- which brings with it the coveted final qualifying place for next season’s Champions League.

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That place has belonged to Liverpool for the past four seasons but the Anfield club remain the outsiders among the four clubs still chasing the berth. However, Aston Villa are right back in the hunt after a weekend when Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City failed to boost their chances.

For several weeks Manchester City seemed to be in prime position but their last minute loss in the Manchester derby opened the door to the chasing teams. Spurs stepped in with dramatic wins over both Chelsea and Arsenal.

Unfortunately for Harry Redknapp, next up on the fixture list was a trip to Old Trafford and his squad couldn’t pull off a third straight victory over one of the top three. On the same day Manchester City had a tough visit to Arsenal and could only force a scoreless draw.

On Sunday Aston Villa were able to take advantage by winning the Second City derby. It left them level on points with Spurs but having played a game more. Man City lie one point further back but with three to play and Liverpool are two off the pace with just two games to go.

The joker in the pack is that while Spurs and Man City have the extra game, it is against each other – and on top of that Aston Villa visit Eastlands next. For Villa fans there is a dream scenario where the Villains triumph in Manchester and then City beat Spurs in their extra game.

It could leave Villa and Spurs going into the final Sunday on 67 points, with Man City one behind on 66. Spurs would probably retain the initiative though, as their goal difference is currently ten better than the Midlanders. The legacy of the 7-1 drubbing at Chelsea could come back to haunt Villa in a big way.

You can bet on: Who will win the Premier League

Spurs end their campaign at relegated Burnley which is a difficult match to judge- the Clarets could be demoralised and easy meat- or released from pressure and keen to go out on a high. Mid-table sides who are safe would be more predictable opposition.

Related posts:

1. Manchester City v Liverpool- The Race For Fourth Premiership Spot Hots Up
2. Everton’s Stunning Comeback Heats up the Race for Fourth Place
3. Premiership Predictions: Title Race is Wide Open Again

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