West Ham v Sunderland: Will Big Sam Hammer O'Neill's Black Cats?
Both Aston Villa and Fulham have both been sent packing from Upton Park with their tails between their legs this season as the Hammers make the Boleyn Ground a fortress, but can Martin O'Neill's Sunderland end that run by recording their first win of the season?
Former Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce, not to mention Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll watching from the stands, will be right up for this one. There's nothing like a bit of Tyne-Wear rivalry and, although Allardyce was only at St James' for a short while and played for the Black Cats, Big Sam knows how much the visitors would love to get one over on him.
Sunderland have drawn with Arsenal, Swansea and Liverpool so far this season, which is not a bad return, but they will see this game as winnable. They beat the Hammers on the final day in the 2010/11 campaign 3-0. That was their first goals at Upton Park since 2007 and their first top flight win there since 2001.
But West Ham are a different beast under Big Sam. They are not afraid to mix it up and try to turn defenders with long balls over the top. Sunderland will be a threat. They have players of real calibre in their squad, Fletcher, Johnson, Gardner and Larsson instantly spring to mind, but the Hammers are no slouches either with Nolan, Noble, Diame, Cole and Vaz Te.
Will Upton Park be full of Happy Hammers come the final whistle or will it be the visitors going back up the road with all three points?
West Ham v Sunderland; Kick Off 3pm September 22 2012
Prediction Panel
|
Arsenal |
Josh Ben Moshe |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Aston Villa |
Frank Pattison |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Chelsea |
Joe Tyler |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Everton |
Chris Goodwin |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Fulham |
Neil Springate |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Liverpool |
Dave Disciascio |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Man City |
Callum Rothwell |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Man United |
Alex Richert |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Newcastle |
Greg Hall |
1 |
V |
0 |
|
Norwich |
Sue Read |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
QPR |
John Jaycock |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Reading |
Jon Keen |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Southampton |
Andy Saunders |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Stoke City |
Jack Heaney |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
Sunderland |
Tony Ratton |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Swansea |
Jim Barry |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Spurs |
Mike Richards |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
West Brom |
Andy Wakeman |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
West Ham |
Matt Beeby |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Wigan |
Jimmy Shine |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OUR EXPERTS |
|
|
|
|
|
Writer |
Colin Illingworth |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Steve Coulter |
3 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Hugh Larkin |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Mitch Waddon |
3 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Chris Pettitt |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Sarshar Hosseinnia |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Blackburn fan |
Terry Kennedy |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Bolton fan |
David Blackburn |
1 |
V |
0 |
|
Boro fan |
Sue Gardener |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Pompey fan |
Dan Taylor |
3 |
V |
2 |
|
Pompey fan |
Peter Rendle |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
West Ham fan |
Nigel Telfer |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Wolves fan |
Chris Cox |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Editor |
Antony Melvin |
1 |
V |
0 |
Panel Verdict
This is a hard one to call.
Home: 12; Draw: 12; Away: 9. TBA 1
* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d love to hear from you.
