Weekend Outlook (08 Feb 2009)

West Ham United vs Manchester United

"...Games at Upton Park has always triggered the memory of 14 May 1995 where we were held to a 1-1 draw courtesy of Steve Bruce's late defensive mistake, to hand the league title to Blackburn Rovers on a silver platter, despite the latter losing their final game...."

- JayWalk, 07 Feb 2009

What a month of January as we finally finished the crazy fixtures of 8 games and see us back on top of the table, two points ahead and a game in hand!

It was a nail biter toward the end of the month as we were really stretched thin with injuries but I was glad many of our brave soldiers managed to shake off the sick bay and come through for us.

Thereafter, we had a well deserved week of rest as we did not have a mid-week schedule for this week.

February would be a relatively relaxed month for us as we start our preparation for the resumption of the ECL where we travel to San Siro to take on Inter Milan for the second round 1st leg.

It will be a very tough match as the current English leader meets their Italian counterpart. Expect this to be a real cracker.

Also looking ahead, quite a bit of deja vu where we meet Spurs in the FA Cup only to have to meet them in the Final of the Carling Cup. Same goes to Derby County where we killed them off in the Carling Cup semi-final only to have to meet them against in the FA Cup next week.

Strange coincidence, huh?

JayWalk The Talk: Neville is out with a virus while Rooney and Evra are expected to return to the squad with Brown looking very likely to be picked to start for the Red Devils.

Edwin Van der Sar will be looking to his defenders for help as he is aiming to keep a clean goal for at least 75 minutes if he wishes to break the all-time British clean sheet record of 1,196 minutes. Good luck.

Dyer, Gabbidon and Ashton are out injured while Kovac and Savio are likely to be making their Premiership debut against ManUtd for West Ham.

JayWalk The Walk: Games at Upton Park has always triggered the memory of 14 May 1995 where we were held to a 1-1 draw courtesy of Steve Bruce's late defensive mistake, to hand the league title to Blackburn Rover on a silver platter, despite the latter losing their final game.

Upton Park also triggered memory of Joe Cole who made his senior debut in 1998, coincidentally against ManUtd. This was a young lad that I was hoping ManUtd would buy but alas Cole choose the money route only to fade into the blue oblivion of Stamford Bridge.

Anyway, bookies are making ManUtd give up 0.75-ball handicap and a decimal odds of an easy 1.825 to beat it. Wagers are skewed in favour of ManUtd to beat the handicap at 69%.

We used to travel to Upton Park with caution as it is a place where getting 3 points is not easy. However, that was during Redknapp's time. Zola, as much as I admire this compact sized Italian, is nowhere near the genius of Redknapp when it comes to managing West Ham.

It will be a win for ManUtd. Go and give the handicap while we keep out fingers' crossed that Liverpool will drop more points given that they are very weak in the striker's department without Keane, Gerrard and Torres.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.