Fulham v West Ham: Goals unlikely, but worth backing home win

Fulham have struggled to score more than one goal in their most recent fixtures, but this may be about to change as they claim a victory at Craven Cottage that will enable them to leapfrog West Ham in the Premier League standings.

Only twice in their last 15 fixtures in all competitions have Fulham managed two goals or more and they have scored exactly once in each of their last four at home.

However, West Ham have been quite generous on the road of late by conceding nine goals across their last three away fixtures and things will not get any easier with regular defensive pairing James Collins and Winston Reid both struggling to be fit.

This could mean an immediate start for new loan recruit Emmanuel Pogatetz, although he may be on the rusty side having not played for Wolfsburg since October.

Recent form and the fact that Fulham have not netted more than once in three successive meetings with West Ham mean that under 1.5 goals for Martin Jol’s men here at 4/6 may have some appeal.

But West Ham’s defensive headache does suggest that 11/10 is the better bet that Fulham score at least twice.

Another problem for West Ham has proved their major lack of away goals, as Jack Collison’s goal in the 5-1 defeat at Arsenal was their first on their travels since November, a run of five fixtures without a goal.

Taking everything into consideration, a low-scoring encounter looks on the cards and under 2.5 goals in the match appears a bit of a steal at 5/6.

A Fulham win in a game with no more than two goals may also be slightly undervalued at 7/2, which is available through the coupled correct scoreline market offering a Fulham triumph either 1-0 or 2-0.

In terms of match betting, Fulham are 6/5 to claim the three points, with West Ham at 23/10 and the draw priced at 9/4.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date