West Ham can continue upward trend on trip to Fulham
Villa thriving under Smith
Fulham v West Ham
These London clubs started the season slowly but while Fulham have never recovered it's all smiles at West Ham, who can continue their upward trajectory at Craven Cottage.
The happy Hammers had no points after four matches and only eight after ten games, although it was always likely to take Manuel Pellegrini time to get the squad as he wanted and he faced a tricky batch of opening fixtures.
West Ham have now lost only one of their last seven - against champions Manchester City - and the goals have flowed in recent times with nine scored in wins over Newcastle, Cardiff and Crystal Palace.
Felipe Anderson and Javier Hernandez have stepped up to replace the injured Marko Arnautovic and Declan Rice is bossing midfield.
Pellegrini's side have lost only one of their six matches against bottom-half opponents this season and they don't come any softer than Fulham right now.
The Cottagers, thumped 4-1 by an average Manchester United side last week, have beaten Burnley 4-2 and Southampton 3-2 at home, but those are their only two successes since coming up via the playoffs.
Fulham have conceded an astonishing 40 goals and West Ham's enterprising attackers should enjoy facing the hosts, who are still searching for their first clean sheet of the campaign.
Recommendation
West Ham draw no bet
1pt 8-11 general
Bet on this match at soccerbase.com
Aston Villa v Stoke
3pm Saturday
Another team on the rise are Aston Villa under Dean Smith.
They are up to eighth in the Sky Bet Championship with four wins in the last six and it could quite easily have been 18 points from those contests after they dominated in dramatic draws against Nottingham Forest (5-5) and West Brom (2-2).
During that spell Villa have scored 19 goals and triumphed 3-0 at Derby and Middlesbrough. A repeat performance should be enough to beat Stoke at home.
Smith has taken the handbrake off the side since replacing Steve Bruce and Villa's big attacking talents like John McGinn, Jack Grealish, Tammy Abraham, Yannick Bolasie and Anwar El Ghazi are taking centre state.
If Villa can bring in a goalkeeper and some defensive recruits to boost the squad they should go close to promotion back to the Premier League, a target which looks beyond Stoke.
The Potters, managed by former Birmingham boss Gary Rowett, have scored only 27 goals in their 21 matches and forced only two shots on target in last week's 2-0 win over Ipswich.
Six shots overall in 90 minutes is a low return and Villa can put paid to City's upturn in form to deliver only a second defeat in 13 matches.
Recommendation
Aston Villa
1pt Evs Sky Bet
Bet on this match at soccerbase.com
Sky Bet Championship standings
Alaves v Athletic Bilbao
Eleven Sports 1, 8pm Monday
Changing a manager does not always work out for the best but Eduardo Berizzo's axing could be just what Athletic need to kick on for the rest of the season.
Athletic have won both matches since Gaizka Garitano replaced Berizzo and last week's 1-0 victory over Girona was one of their best performances of the season.
The goal came late - veteran forward Aritz Aduriz's penalty proved the difference - but the Bilbao-based side had ten shots on target to Girona's one and won the corner count 11-0.
Alaves started the season remarkably well but have udnerstandably regressed in recent times and their drop down La Liga could well continue.
They have lost three of their last four and won only one of their last seven with that sole success coming against minnows Huesca.
Recommendation
Athletic Bilbao draw no bet
1pt 5-6 bet365
Bet on this match at soccerbase.com
Plays of the day
Banker
Leeds 7-10
The mini-wobble seems over for Leeds with five wins in six to get right back into the promotion mix. Hosts Bolton have off-field trouble and one victory in 17 league matches is woeful stuff.
Blowout
Barnsley 5-4
It was a blow for Portsmouth to lose at home to Charlton on Tuesday, but the Sky Bet League One leaders have suffered just two defeats and look to be underrated for the difficult trip to Barnsley.
Accumulator
Leeds 4-6, Dortmund 4-9, Liverpool 6-10, Napoli 2-5 Betfair
Both teams to score
Games at Shrewsbury 13-16, Oldham 4-5, Atalanta 4-7 188Bet
Thought for the week
Law 16 of Association football concerns the goal kick and reads "If the ball does not leave the penalty area or is touched by a player before it leaves the penalty area the kick is retaken."
We have seen this happen numerous times this season and it is only likely to increase given the number of teams determined to play out from the back.
More and more it is a tactic used by defenders to restart the game when they look in big trouble from an attacking press, something that will need looking into in the near future.
Just like the professional "take one for the team" type foul it has been taken to extreme cynical levels at elite level by managers and players looking for any slight edge they can find.
If a throw-in is not taken correctly it is retaken by the opposing team so why is it different for goal kicks?
Any defender who stops play before a goal kick comes out of the area should be punished with a booking and an indirect free kick awarded to the opposition.
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