Premier League: Burnley- West Ham United

 

Ahead of West Ham's 2-0 defeat of QPR immediately prior to the international break I wrote ......

Rangers have lost 26 of their last 35 EPL away starts, including their last three London derby fixtures, they are fortunate, IMO , to have four points on board so far and this is a game that the Hammers have to be looking for maximum points from if they are to stay clear of the relegation battle and a win today would take them into the top ten ahead of the international break. They have perhaps been unlucky to only have seven points on board so far and have played much better than basic results suggest and clubgowi World Cup saviour Enner Valencia, Diafra Sakho and Stewart Downing (in a more central role) have all thrived in a far more adventurous West ham team than we expected to see this season. Guy Demel was injured in training and is a doubt, but no other new injuries for the hosts.
 

That win took them up to a dizzy 7th place in the EPL, ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool. Today they travel to a Burnley side still looking for a first win of the season, but they did treble their goal tally for the campaign with a 2-2 draw at Leicester City last time out and have more options than for some time with Danny Ings, Kieran Trippier, David Jones and Nathaniel Chalobah all available for selection. Ings had a dream Championship campaign last season with 21 goals and 7 assists, but it is a big step up and he has yet to prove himself at this level. However, Matthew Taylor misses out and will have an operation on Monday and it looks like the game will come a week too soon for Dean Marney. The latter is a combatitive midfielder, key to how the Clarets play and they have conceded 9 goals in the last four starts he has missed, he was born in Barking, which is two tube stops from Upton Park, so suspect he will have been desperate to play today. Likewise Taylor, who is a former Hammer and a gifted left sided midfielder and there is no doubt that the hosts are weaker in midfield without the pair and they match up poorly against United in the middle of the park, where Stewart Downing has been creating goalscoring chances almost at will. Diafra Sakho has been a revelation with five goals in six starts and the fluid Hammers have also scored an EPL high six goals from set pieces, Burnley conceded two from corners in the 4-0 defeat to WBA the start before last and this is an area the visitors can exploit. United to win the midfield battle and match.