If we win today and other results go our way we could go in to the top four. The top four. Of the Premier League. Blimey.
Admittedly it is still early days and we’re not going to stay this high in the table for most of the season, but the signs are good and the mood around the club is the highest its been for many, many years.
There’s a real belief that we can go into any game and get a result regardless of who we’re playing, wether it’s Burnley or Bayern Munich (!?). And three points today will show us that yeah we can give the bigger teams a good game, but we can also ensure we brush aside the teams below us in the table, which just as important in this league.
Burnley are without a win this season and have only managed to find the net three times all campaign, shipping 10 in the process. They will be desperate to get their first win under their belt today, which means this could turn out to be one of our toughest games of the season so far. They’re going to come at us and we’re going to need to know how to deal with them.
And there’s no doubting that we’ll know exactly how to beat them today. We’ve shown all season that we can beat anyone on our day and we’ve consistency and form on our side going in to this clash at Turf Moor.
Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia and Stewart Downing will be expected to give the Claret’s defence a hard time, while Song and Noble shouldn’t have any problems keeping the midfielder strong and ticking over nicely.
It’ll be a tough game but one we should be expecting to win comfortably. Come on you Irons!
Prediction: Three points and a nose bleed.
Team News
Burnley (19th, 4 points)
Danny Ings, Kieran Trippier, Nathaniel Chalobah, David Jones and Michael Keane are all available again after recovering from their respective injuries.
But Steven Reid, Matty Taylor and Dean Marney all remain sidelined.
West Ham United (7th, 10 points)
Mark Noble returns to action after a calf injury ruled him out of the last two games, while Enner Valencia is expected to feature, despite just returning from international duty with Ecuador.
Cheikhou Kouyate and Andy Carroll are West Ham’s only long-term absentees.
Potential Starting XI
Last 10 Meetings
| Date | Competition | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Oct 2013 | League Cup 4th Round | Turf Moor | W 2-0 |
| 24 Mar 2012 | Championship | Turf Moor | D 2-2 |
| 3 Dec 2011 | Championship | Boleyn Ground | L 2-1 |
| 21 Feb 2011 | FA Cup 5th Round | Boleyn Ground | W 5-1 |
| 6 Feb 2010 | Premier League | Turf Moor | L 2-1 |
| 28 Nov 2009 | Premier League | Boleyn Ground | W 5-3 |
| 5 Apr 2005 | Championship | Turf Moor | W 1-0 |
| 28 Aug 2004 | Championship | Boleyn Ground | W 1-0 |
| 2 Mar 2004 | Division 1 | Turf Moor | D 1-1 |
| 18 Oct 2003 | Division 1 | Boleyn Ground | D 2-2 |
Match in Numbers
200 – Mark Noble is set to make his 200th Premier League appearance for the Hammers. Only Steve Potts (203) has made more.
3 – Burnley are unbeaten in their last three league meetings with West Ham
2 – And they have scored at least two goals in each of their last four league fames against the Hammers
13 – The Hammers have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 13 top-flight meetings with the Clarets
3 – Burnley have only scored three goals in seven Premier League games this term, lower than anyone else
5 – And they also have the lowest shot conversion rate in top-flight so far (5%)
6 – The Hammers have scored six goals from set-pieces this season, which is a divisional high
22 – Stewart Downing has created 22 goal scoring changes so far this season, which is a joint league high with Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas
5 – If Diafra Sakho scores today he will become only the second player to score in five consecutive Premier League games for the Hammers. Carlton Cole was the first.
3 – The Hammers’ three wins already this season is as many as they could manage from their first 20 games last term
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Fan Predictions
@WestHamWorld 0-lots.
— Pep Harris (@UglyKidPep) October 18, 2014
@WestHamWorld I’ll take a modest 1-0. — Stuart Crispe (@StuartCrispe) October 18, 2014
@WestHamWorld I had a dream last night it was 0-3. Reid scored
— Scott Wilson (@ScottWHU98) October 18, 2014
@WestHamWorld 0-23 — WhatYouTalkingAbout (@thenameswillis) October 18, 2014
@WestHamWorld 0-3. Valencia, Sakho, Nolan
— ⚒Antti Hyoty⚒ (@anttihyoty) October 18, 2014
@WestHamWorld Sahko is a dead cert to score. Two nil to them. — DanDruff (@Dan_Druff1974) October 18, 2014
Head-to-Head (all competitions)
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | GD +/- | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | 37 | 18 | 33 | 151 | 149 | +2 | 42.05% |
