West Ham United expected to pass Premier League test
Published:West Ham United are odds-on at 4/11 to stay in the Premier League after their play-off final victory over Blackpool on Saturday.
The Irons saw off Ian Holloway’s men 2-1 at Wembley thanks to a Ricardo Vaz Te strike in the 87th minute.
The so-called ‘£50million game’ wasn’t quite so good for Ladbrokes though, with the bookies having to pay out a hefty sum on the heavily-backed east London team.
Sam Allardyce will now be confident of keeping his side up next season and, with some investment in key areas, they should have no problem maintaining their Premier League status beyond the first term.
However, if you reckon the Irons are in for another season of scrapping around the bottom three, then they are a pretty meaty 15/8 to head straight back to the Championship.
If you’re West Ham fan still giddy from yesterday, then they are also 3,000/1 to win the Premier League for the first time.
There was a certain poetic justice in the season for Allardyce – as he led the Irons to promotion his former side, Blackburn Rovers, were heading the other way.
It was hardly an amicable parting of ways for Rovers and Allardyce, and Steve Kean’s men are not expected to have an easy ride in the Championship next term.
Rovers are 12/1 to win the Championship title, while fellow relegated side, Bolton Wanderers, are the 6/1 favourites to get back to the Premier League by virtue of winning the second tier.
Wolves are also fancied at 7/1, while losing play-off finalists Blackpool are 12/1 along with Brighton and Leeds.
