West Ham vs Blackburn Betting Tips - Bank on Benni

West Ham had played 11 hours of football without scoring before Marlon Harewood's early goal offered a ray of light in their midweek Carling Cup tie at Chesterfield. However, from that point on they were outplayed by the League One side, and the Spireites staged a famous comeback to win 2-1. Under fire Hammers boss Alan Pardew must have felt as though he had been kicked in the gnashers after seeing his charges dumped out of the competition by a team that are currently not even in the top half of League One. Surely things can only get better? Maybe not when you consider that Arsenal and Chelsea feature in their next quartet of fixtures. As it stands, West Ham are second last in the Premiership at the time of writing. They desperately need a result in their matches either side of the pending Arsenal and Chelsea nightmares, against Middlesbrough on November 11 and, more imminently, when entertaining Blackburn at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday. However, without a goal in their last five league matches, the east London side have yet to demonstrate that they have the stomach for the fight. On the contrary, they look disjointed, unenthusiastic and the river of ideas that once ran through the team, enabling them to play attractive, attacking football, has dried up faster than a puddle in the Sahara Desert. Blackburn, on the other hand, are in a respectable mid-table position. They have only scored two goals in their four away matches so far in the Premiership, but they've only conceded an average of a goal a game on their travels, a stat only bettered by the 'big three' and Aston Villa. Indeed, the bedrock of Blackburn is their solid defence and, to their credit, Mark Hughes' men are playing well even in defeat, like when unluckily losing by a goal to nil against third-placed Bolton last weekend. Blackburn had what looked a goal turned down by the officials before Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts were both denied from the spot by Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen in a high-octane climax to that match. Although the Rovers haven't beaten West Ham in their backyard in their last 11 attempts, the Lancashire side have the upper hand in the overall head to head record having beaten the Hammers 45 times, losing on 36 occasions, and 16 bouts between the two sides culminating in a draw. Unless the Hammers' fire is reignited, I can't see them beating Blackburn. For value seekers, Coral's offer of 11/5 about Benni McCarthy in the anytime goalscorer rates a peach of a bet. The South African international has scored in six of Blackburn's 13 matches in all competitions thus far and, in a match that I envisage will result in a low goalscoring affair, the 28-year-old can once again etch his name onto the scoresheet. Verdict: 2pt Benni McCarthy in the anytime goalscorer market @ 11/5 (ladbrokes)