West Ham have lost just once at Upton Park in their last nine matches and a chance is taken on the Hammers tonight.
Avram Grant’s men play Birmingham in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final, Ipswich or Arsenal await at Wembley, and it should be a decent watch.
With European football and, more importantly, silverware just three matches away, there’s no question either manager will rest key men, despite fears of relegation, and it is the Blues who are slightly favoured by the bookmakers to advance.
With home advantage at St Andrews in the second leg I can’t argue with that but it also means West Ham will be looking to secure a lead after 90 minutes and I think they’ll get it.
Grant is a man still very much under pressure in east London, rumours are rife that Sam Allardyce will be appointed this week, but his team easily got the better of Barnsley in the FA Cup on Saturday and the Israeli will be demanding more of the same on Tuesday.
West Ham fans saw their side crush holders Manchester United 4-0 in the last eight and, while they slipped to defeat next time out in front of their adoring faithful, a 3-1 loss to Manchester City was no disgrace. They also played well versus Everton when holding the Toffees to a 1-1 draw and West Ham still possess a number of talented individual in their starting line up.
Survival is the priority for both clubs this season, West Ham deservedly got the better of their relegation six-pointer with Wolves ten days ago, but installing some confidence with a domesitc cup final appearance would certainly do no harm and both have the quality to stay up.
Birmingham themselves were impressive FA Cup winners on the weekend, down the road at Millwall, but aside from that 4-1 triumph they do tend to struggle for goals on their travels and Alex McLeish has seen his team win jus once away from home in the top flight all season.
At what is now a standout 2.25 with Coral, I rate West Ham marginal value to prevail and certainly couldn’t be getting involved in the Blues at top price 3.50.
1pt Back West Ham (vs. Birmingham) @ 2.25 (Coral)