Swansea v West Ham: Big Sam’s comeback kings to make heavy work of it

This weekend’s match at the Liberty Stadium could be a big test of squad depth as both Swansea and West Ham lock horns missing their main men at the head of their respective attacking lines.

Wilfried Bony’s absence for the hosts looks likely to stretch beyond the originally expected Africa Cup of Nations duration, with the Ivorian looking like he will join up with Manchester City on his return to the UK.

Meanwhile West Ham will be without Diafra Sakho who has been forced to pull out of the Senegal squad with a back injury and will be out for his club for a week or two.

With both teams having to make changes, Swansea are 13/10 to claim three points, while it’s 12/5 for the draw, or 21/10 West Ham pick up a first win in five.

It looks likely to be a closely matched encounter, but we’ve picked out three of the best bets to have.

Both teams to score @ 3/4

Yes, it may not make followers rich without significant investment, but the stats do back this one up.

Both teams have found the net in nine of West Ham’s 10 games away from Upton Park this season, with Sam Allardyce’s side seemingly unable to do anything the easy way outside of the capital.

Swansea’s forward ranks may have been hit hard, but they can still cause Adrian plenty of problems.

Gylfi Sigurdsson to score anytime @ 2/1

Aside from Wilfried Bony, and Ki Sung-Yueng (who is away on Asia Cup duty with South Korea), only Wayne Routledge and Gylfi Sigurdsson have got on the scoresheet for Swansea in the last two months.

And it is the Icelandic midfielder that it is worth siding with for this encounter.

The ex-Reading man has two in his last three games for Garry Monk’s man and can boast a deadly free-kick.

West Ham to come from behind and win or draw @ 21/5

The Hammers have been the kings of comebacks this season.

On four separate occasions  away from home this season have Sam Allardyce’s men fallen behind in a match yet come back to secure a point or even three.

They did just that in the reverse fixture, coming back from Bony’s opener to run out 3-1 winners. If they win, don’t expect it to be straightforward.

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

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