10:10am Thursday 4th February 2010
Burnley v West Ham
Turf Moor, Saturday February 6, 3pm
Last meeting: West Ham 5-3 Burnley (28-11-09). The Hammers stormed into a five-goal lead in little more than an hour. Jack Collison, Junior Stanislas, Carlton Cole, Guillermo Franco and Luis Jiminez all netted before a late rally from the visitors.
The opposition: Burnley have not won in the league for 12 games. During that time, there has been a changing of the guard, with Owen Coyle jumping across Lancashire to take charge of Bolton Wanderers and Brian Laws coming in to manage the Clarets.
Danger men: Striker Stephen Fletcher has made the required step up in class from the Championship, proving himself to be a handful for most Premier League defences, even scoring against Chelsea last week. Former Manchester United winger Chris Eagles will also pose a problem with his pace and trickery.
Did you know? British politician and former Director of Communications and Strategy for ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair, Alistair Campbell is a Burnley fan.
Prediction: Burnley 2 West Ham 2.
Betting tip: Can Benni McCarthy open his West Ham account at the first time of asking? It sounds a good bet to me.
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