Sat 30 Nov 2013 15:00 – West Ham v Fulham (Boleyn Ground)

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Up until the last day of August, West Ham had only lost one home game in the whole of 2013. Since then they have lost four out of five and drawn one. During that same five game period, Fulham have a slightly better away record, having one won game and lost the other four. As a result of their recent poor form both teams are currently on just 10 points and are at risk of being involved in a relegation battle as the season progresses.

West Ham still have a long term injury list that includes Rat, Reid, Vaz Te, Carroll and Diarra and none of these players are expected back soon. Fulham will be without Duff, Rodallega, Hangeland and Briggs who are all still missing through injury.

Both of these teams are struggling to score goals this season with West Ham managing an average of 0.8 goals per game at home and Fulham recording the same figure away from home. They have also both conceded an average of 1.7 goals per game at home and away respectively. The over/under 2.5 goals statistics produce a fairly even split with a slight bias towards under 2.5 due to Fulham’s away record. The bookings stats are more conclusive with an extremely high possibility of below 35.5 points in this game.

This is a game that has no clear favourite with both teams enduring a terrible run of form. Fulham have won twice away from home this season against the bottom two clubs while West Ham have not won at home since the opening day when they beat Cardiff. The Hammers have three times as many shots on target at home than Fulham do away but do not score any more goals. The only conclusion for this match is a draw and neither team can be expected to score more than a goal each.

Match prediction: West Ham 1-1 Fulham

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