The weekend’s Premier League action climaxes on Monday with a London derby between Queens Park Rangers and West Ham (Match Betting – QPR 11/10, draw 12/5, West Ham 11/4).
After previously being stalwarts of the top flight in years gone by, the two sides haven’t met since 2004 and you can be certain that both teams will be desperate to get one over on their local rivals.
After making eleven new signings in the summer QPR have struggled to gel, taking just two points from their opening five league games, and are now bottom of the table following Reading’s draw on Saturday.
Furthermore they’re currently in the midst of somewhat of an injury crisis, most notably in defence, where three of their first-choice back four are currently out of action.
However, they do have plenty of talent in both midfield and attack and the return of Alejandro Faurlin has undoubtedly made a massive difference to the side.
However, it’s former Hammer Bobby Zamora (11/8 to score at anytime) who is most likely to be their key man on Monday and he’ll be desperate to prove he can still mix it in the Premier League, after a largely disappointing time since moving to Loftus Road in January.
With West Ham struggling to defend crosses this season, Zamora will fancy himself to get on the scoresheet for what would be his fifth goal of the season.
In contrast to their rivals, Sam Allardyce’s men have made a solid start to their return to the top flight, taking eight points from their first five matches to leave them tenth.
However, after a fairly straightforward start to the campaign this is one of their last easy games before they meet some of the big boys and they will be targeting three points on Monday.
One of their problems this season has been scoring goals, an issue that has been magnified by the injury to Andy Carroll and, with Carlton Cole looking out of form so far this term, even more responsibility has fallen on captain Kevin Nolan (5/2 to score at anytime).
Despite not being a favourite amongst the fans, the veteran is always reliable when the Hammers need a goal – a quality that more than makes up for his lack of mobility. His ability to drift into the box can often prove priceless and he’ll be looking to catch the makeshift Hoops backline napping.
But, with so much quality going forward its surely only a matter of time before the QPR find their feet and they could just sneak this one (QPR 8/1 to win 2-1).
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.
Sunday throws up potentially the first ’six-pointer’ of the Premier League season as Wolves welcome Sunderland to Molineux. Both teams are in rotten runs of form and are in desperate need for three points. Elsewhere, Everton will be hoping Stoke have another European hangover when they head to Goodison Park for what should be a physical encounter.
Spurs managed to secure a famous Champions League victory over reigning champions Inter Milan at White Hart Lane last night and boss Harry Redknapp was quick to praise the performance of one of his players in particular – Gareth Bale (Spurs 5/6 to win Champions League Group A).