West Ham v Swansea: Happy Hammers to roll on

We could well be seeing this celebration

Both West Ham and Swansea have surpassed their pre-season expectations this term but Paul Robinson thinks the latter will come undone in the East End on Sunday.

West Ham v Swansea
Sunday December 7, 13:30 GMT
Live on Sky Sports 1

The Hammers are in dreamland at the moment and that's with Sam Allardyce still in charge. The club's summer signings have all just about hit the ground running and a change in position for Stewart Downing has revitalised the player who was once tipped for greatness.

All that has enabled West Ham to pick up 24 points from their opening 14 fixtures, a total that has them positioned fifth in the league, ahead of the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs and Everton.

Diafra Sakho has already scored six goals this season and he's been injured since early November. The Senegalese forward is back in full training but Allardyce has hinted that he won't be rushed back into the starting XI. Step forward then, Andy Carroll. The former Liverpool man has been involved in the team's last four outings and while he is yet to find the net, he causes the defence so many problems that it creates spaces for other players - most notably Kevin Nolan.

Swansea City bounced back from a disappointing draw with Crystal Palace last weekend by beating QPR on Tuesday. They are safely positioned in seventh place and could overtake West Ham if they can take all three points at the Boleyn.

Garry Monk has done a tremendous job in his first managerial role, especially considering he lost the services of Michu, De Guzman and Chico Flores in the summer. He managed to retain Wilfried Bony though and the Ivory Coast international has already got six league goals this term. 

It's Gylfi Sigurdsson who has been the stand out player for me though as not only does he score goals from midfield, he creates plenty as well. His touch of class brings a lot to the team and he will be hopeful of another big performance in the capital.

Match Odds
West Ham 2.447/5 Swansea 3.259/4 The Draw 3.55/2

With four wins and a draw from their last five home games, it's absolutely right that The Hammers are the favourites here. Liverpool and Man City were beaten during that spell and the only blip was a 0-0 against a dogged, Aston Villa.

The Swans may have won on the opening day at Old Trafford, but since then it's been two points from a possible 15 on the road. Admittedly they've had to go to Stamford Bridge, Goodison Park and The Etihad, but they've also failed at the likes of Sunderland and even last season, they didn't do much winning away from home.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals
Over 2.5 Goals 2.111/10 Under 2.5 Goals 1.8910/11

I'm quite surprised that Over 2.5 goals is odds-against and I think we should all take advantage of that. With 23 scored and 17 conceded this year, West Ham's matches are averaging 2.86 goals each time, with 10 of their 14 having had three or more.

Swansea's stats may not be quite as good - an average of 2.36 goals per 90 minutes, but exactly half have still awarded over 2.5 backers, with four of their half dozen away from The Liberty following suit.

First Goalscorer   

Assuming the predicted line-ups are correct, I quite like the price of Kevin Nolan to score first at around the 12.011/1 mark. The attacking midfielder may be slowing down these days, but he's always flourished playing with Andy Carroll and the pair combined once again in midweek for the equaliser at The Hawthorns.

Cash Out   

A correct score of 2-1 to West Ham seems a bit overpriced at 10.5n/a and if the game goes the way I think it will, it should trade much shorter at some point during the 90 minutes.

Recommended Bets
Back West Ham @ 2.447/5 (2pts)
Back Over 2.5 Goals @ 2.111/10 (2pts)
Back Kevin Nolan to score first @ 12.011/1 (1pt)

Best Cash Out
Back West Ham to win 2-1 @ 10.5n/a