West Ham v Charlton - betting tips

This London Derby between West Ham and Charlton looks set to be a cracking encounter, with both side's evenly matched. However, ominously for Alan Curbishley's men, they've failed to win an away Premiership match in their last ten attempts, and they have been finiding goals hard to come by on rival soil, having netted just seventeen times in fifteen matches away from The valley - an average of just over a goal a game. The Hammers are relatively strong at the Boleyn Ground, and have ammassed a decent tally of 26 home-goals-for this season in the league - an average of nearly two goals per game -and their leading hitman, Marlon Harewood, has struck an impressive fourteen times in twenty-eight appearances. Harewood has hit the back of the net four times in the Hammers' last four home ties, and in current form looks well worth backing at 5/1 with Blue Square to score first in a game that West Ham really should win. Statistically, it's hard to construct too compelling a case for any bet in the double result market, but West Ham do score the lions share of their goals in the second half, while much of Charlton's attacking impetus seems to have diminished since Danny Murphy's departure to Spurs, leaving Darren Bent short of ammunition. With this in mind, and taking into consideration that Charlton are likely to take a defensively-minded approach, backing draw/West Ham in the double result betting at 4/1 with Blue Square looks well worth a couple of quid of anyones money.