This is the pick of the Weekend’s relegation battles, with it all to play for. Gianfranco Zola’s men have home advantage but trail Wigan Athletic by two places and four points in the league, while Wigan will fancy their chances after a remarkable victory over Arsenal in their last game, in which they managed to overthrow a two goal deficit in the last ten minutes of the game to win 3-2.
Zola will find this a tough match, with rumours of his impending exit rife in the national papers. It is no secret that there has been animosity between him and the new owners, Gold and Sullivan. Unfortunately for Hammers fans, there are several notable absentees from the squad due to injury. This includes Hines, Nouble, Boa Morte, Dyer, Collison, Ilunga and Tomkins. Fortunately West Ham have a fairly decent squad size so they should be able to put together a decent team out on the day.
Wigan Athletic will go into this match on cloud nine after their last gasp victory against Arsenal, and they will know that a victory over relegation rivals West Ham will all but secure premier league football for another season. Martinez has a completely injury free squad to pick from, bar the fourth choice ‘keeper! Recent form has been up and down for Wigan and they somehow seem to beat the best teams and struggle to put away the teams you might expect them to. They have absolute quality in the likes of Rodallega, Nzogbia and Figueroa, but concentration seems to be a problem. They also have a questionable record away from home, so they shouldn’t expect to get things all their own way in a match which means everything to the Hammers, and their Manager.
This game has the potential to be very tight, but I think the importance of victory is greater for West Ham and I am predicting a Home win.
Verdict: West Ham Home Win
Odds: 8/11
Bookmaker: William Hill
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