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West Ham’s trip to Wales: Easy game, or do surprises await?

By Scott Johnson

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04: Manuel Pellegrini, West Ham Head Coach controls the ball during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Cardiff City at London Stadium on December 04, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04: Manuel Pellegrini, West Ham Head Coach controls the ball during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Cardiff City at London Stadium on December 04, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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Trips to relegation candidates are often overlooked in the run in, and West Ham are set to take on Cardiff this weekend. Will we score the double over Neil Warnock? Or will Cardiff begin their climb to safety?

Scott 2-1 to West Ham

West Ham fans around the country willbe telling you that this game should be easy. That Anderson will nutmeg 15 players in a row then rabona a pass to Lanzini who will step over his way through the sprawling defence and score with his nose. But Cardiff are likely to be a bit tough at home, and Neil Warnock has probably been trying to curse us with the rest of his coven at the weekly cauldron meetings.

In terms of actual football, we have the better side. Man for man we outdo Cardiff in all spots and if we play the way we can we will get the win. However Cardiff are fighting for survival and that is a strong motivation. Expect them to up their game and look to prove to their fans that they are going to fight all the way. But I have faith. Just not as much as the other writers…

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Adam: Irons 3 – 0 Cardiff

Another week, another big game I predict for West Ham. The good times seem to be rolling for the Irons and I don’t see an unpredictable Cardiff side knocking West Ham off stride. Sure, it’s away, and yes Cardiff have looked a better team in 2019 than in 2018, but still, they lack the personnel to really rattle West Ham’s cage right now.

I think we’ll see Manuel Lanzini/Samir Nasri push for more offense in this game, being freed up from intense midfield competition like they’ve faced in the past few weeks. I also think this is the match that Marco Arnautovic takes his throne back from Chicharito. Goals to Lanzini, Antonio, and late to Arnautovic in this one!

Jeff: 3-0 Win

West Ham have handled Cardiff City with relative ease this campaign and in their previous meetings going all the way back to the Boleyn Ground Days. I don’t expect this weekend to be any different. Although, I’d be lying if I said those away matches at Brighton, Huddersfield, and Burnley earlier this season didn’t give me a moment’s pause.

But with this West Ham side finally rounding into some relative depth and health upfront and in midfield, along with Cardiff’s inability to defend, I expect the goals to come. On the back end if Fabian Balbuena gets back into the XI or if the pairing of Ogbanna and Diop remains intact, I expect our backline to be more than enough in this one. Nobody in the Cardiff side scares me as a goal threat. Let the Iron’s battle to get into 7th spot in the table over the final nine fixtures continue with the full three points in the bag here. Come on You Irons!

Next. Rice blows England competition out of the water. dark

Jeremiah: 4-0 to the Hammers

The West Ham optimistic train is rolling and I’m the conductor! The Hammers are looking in good form and coming off an important victory last weekend they need to keep it up to push towards 7th.

Insert a Cardiff City club that has had many ups n downs this season and looking to stay up in the PL instead of facing the harsh championship schedule again. They should come out swinging but I don’t think that they will be able to hang with the Hammers. I predict an early goal to start the onslaught of attacks to yield a convincing 3 points for West Ham!

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