Premiership Update 30th October 2006

If ever a team needed a result, it was West Ham in their match with Blackburn at the Boleyn Ground ON Sunday. And the Hammers got the victory they needed to elevate them out of the drop zone for the time being, beating Mark Hughes' men bt two goals to one. The evergreen Teddy Sherringham rolled back the years when soaring to meet Yossi Benayoun's cross with a pinpoint header which left Rovers keeper Brad Friedel in no mans land. He'll be 41 next April, but Sherringham is as agile and quick as ever, and his 21st-minute goal set the wheels in motion for what was a much-improved display form the Hammers. The east London side's odds for relegation lengthened to a top-priced 13/2 with vbcet, and Alan Pardew is now a shade of odds against to be the next manager to depart a Premiership club with the same firm. Indeed, West Ham played with the sort of industry that saw them fly high last season, a campaign during which Pardew led them to an FA Cup Final and a respectable mid-table finish in the Premiership. After Teddy's opener, the game looked poised to end 1-0 to West Ham, but Hayden Mullins double the score ten minutes before time, following which Blackburn rallied bravely with David Bentley nicking a consolation goal for the visitors in injury time. But, to be fair, West Ham were firmly in control. Manchester United continued their impressive run with a 4-0 thrashing of Bolton. To beet the Trotters by such an emphatic scoreline at The Reebok was some achievement given the record of Sam Allardyce's charges when on home soil. Furthermore, Wayne Rooney exploded back on the scene, as he had been promising to in recent matches, with a hat-trick. The Red Devils are now a best-priced 11/4 withLadbrokes to wrest the Premiership title away from Chelsea, who are available at 8/15 with bet365. The Blues, who are joint leaders with United but lie in second place owing to an inferior goal difference, barely came out of second gear when outpointing Sheffield United 2-0 on Saturday. The home side had the opportunity to gain an early advantage over the champions in the 18th minute when a penalty was awarded to the blades. However, Danny Weber's tame shot was easy pickings for Henrique Hilario. Then, two minutes before the break Lampard opened the scoring, and four minutes into the second half provided a cross for Michael Ballack to head past Paddy Kenny from close range and effectively put the game to bed. Arsenal's fans left the Emirates slightly disappointed as the Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger bemoaned the Toffee's 'negative' play, suggesting that such tactics are commonly being employed against Arsenal and that it ruins the game as a spectacle. While Wenger, an orchestrator of champagne football, has a valid point, I very much doubt that David Moyes and his men will lose any sleep, as this was a good point for the Merseyside club. Indeed, Everton are now sixth in the table, a point behind Arsenal, although the north London side still have a game in hand. On the subject of Merseyside teams, Liverpool were on song at Anfield, scoring three against Aston Villa in the first half, and coasting to a 3-1 win. Now eight in the league, Rafa Benitez's men demonstrated that class that his been absent from their performances on many occasions so far this term. But they are already 11 points adrift of the top two - a yawning gap for this comparatively early stage in the season - and the generally available 50/1 is probably a fair reflection of their chance of winning the Premiership this season.