Sheffield Wednesday vs West Ham: Owls capable of minor upset
Published:Perhaps the only two fanbases in the country who still retain a soft spot for Carlos Tevez meet up at Hillsborough on Sunday afternoon, as second in League One host second in the Championship…
Match odds
West Ham’s divisional advantage sees them rated 11/8 favourites, but Sam Allardyce has already signalled his intention to use the FA Cup to give an opportunity to players returning from injuries or who haven’t featured much of late.
Gary Megson has admitted that the tournament isn’t Sheffield Wednesday’s priority either as they too battle for promotion, yet hasn’t confirmed that he will field a weakened team, and even if there are a few changes, 19/10 looks a tasty price.
The Owls are one of only four clubs yet to suffer a home defeat in any competition this season, alongside Manchester City, Liverpool and Shrewsbury, and have won nine of their last 11 as hosts.
On top of that, they eliminated another former Premier League side, Blackpool, from the Carling Cup, and can glean extra confidence from having progressed on the three previous occasions that they have met West Ham in the FA Cup.
Their visitors have admittedly taken more away points than anyone else in the Championship on their travels, however their recent away record is nowhere near as impressive, with just one point from a possible nine collected in December.
Other markets
Though West Ham are far from prolific, Allardyce highlighting that as their main fault, they have been shut out just three times on the road, so with Wednesday conceding five in their last two games at Hillsborough, there should be goals.
Both teams to score is unsurprisingly odds-on at 8/11 but it is evens that there are over 2.5 goals, a feature of eight of Megson’s men’s last nine FA Cup encounters.
