West Brom v West Ham: Baggies to stop the rot with a draw

West Brom will be looking to get back to winning ways after three defeats in a row when they host West Ham at the Hawthorns.

Steve Clarke’s side came in for a lot of praise following a strong start to the season, and despite a recent slump, are at evens to beat the Hammers.

Those aren’t generous odds given the Baggies have only managed one goal from that trio of games, although they chalked up four wins on the bounce before this losing streak.

West Ham will be hoping their opponents blip continues for this game, as Sam Allardyce’s team will be keen to put their late defeat to Liverpool behind them with three points against the Albion.

The visitors are out at 11/4 for victory, and while West Brom aren’t in great form, they will be stronger at home and for that reason it looks like the draw is the best match bet at 23/10.

To lend weight to that prediction, the last three fixtures between these two sides have ended in stalemates, with the last encounter ending 3-3 two seasons ago after an enthralling 90 minutes.

And with the Baggies out-of-form and the Hammers stripped of key talents Andy Carroll and Mohamed Diame, both managers are likely to settle for a point.

Goals could be a feature of this match, with the previous meeting at the Hawthorns prior to the 3-3 finishing 3-2 to West Brom in the 2008/09 campaign.

West Ham have scored five in their last two games, and while the hosts haven’t been firing recently they could rekindle their shooting boots on home soil.

Over 3.5 goals is priced at 9/4, while the more conservative selection of over 2.5 goals is worth 5/6. A goal-fest with over 4.5 goals can be backed at 11/2.

If you thought over 2.5 goals were coming in this game with the result to finish as a draw then that is available at a healthy 11/1.

In the goalscorer markets, Shane Long is the 5/1 favourite with Ladbrokes to strike first, having this week committing his future to the West Midlands club amid reported interest from Liverpool.

For West Ham, Carlton Cole is a 7/1 bet to strike first and add to his powerful header against old club Chelsea, as he continues to fill in impressively for Carroll.

Kevin Nolan has got forward well from midfield this season for the east London club, and he could add to his five league goals with a strike anytime at 5/2.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.