Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Middlesbrough come into this fixture as the league’s lowest scorers with just 17 in their first 22 Premier League matches, a ratio of less than 1 per game. They currently find themselves 16th in the table and Today play host to West Ham at The Riverside Stadium.
Aitor Karanka’s side have not been known for their attacking prowess so far this season what with such few goals to their name during this campaign but their only saving grace has been the fact that they aren’t giving too much away at the back either.
For the fact that they have only scored 17 times, they have only conceded 22 at the other end (an exact average of 1 per game) but you do have to wonder how long this apparent lack of goals can continue for. If you were to extrapolate their goal average over the course of the season they would only score 30 goals.
Which were to stay up after only scoring 30 goals would be somewhat of a remarkable feat and testament to a resolute defence. Manager Aitor Karanka has identified the lack of goals as a serious issue with the signatures of both Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford, with the hope now being that these two can score the goals to give them further breathing space between themselves and the bottom three.
Today they play host to a West Ham side which is still dominating the headlines for matters off the pitch, those matters in particular being that of the ongoing Dimitri Payet transfer saga. Payet still refuses to play for the club while West Ham are refusing to sell, therefore the obvious impasse continues.
Payet is nowhere near the first team at the moment and was nowhere near the first team last Saturday as West Ham made easy work of cross city rivals Crystal Palace on their way to a comfortable 3-0 win. A result that after the turmoil of the days prior was most welcome.
The French international did not feature but it was no detriment to The Hammers, if anything it gave the club somewhat of a lift as the rest of the team seemed galvanised and showed that life will go on without the mercurial midfielder.
Michail Antonio stepped up to the mark in a big way and continued his impressive season, he played a part in all three of West Ham’s goals, with the pick of the bunch being that of Andy Carroll’s sumptuous bicycle kick which all but wrapped up the three points.
And it’s three points in which they will be looking for this Afternoon, with Middlesbrough’s lack of goals well documented it could be a case of the first goal being the most important. Should West Ham get in front they could stay in front.
Obviously ‘Boro fans will hope that’s not to be the case what with a new pair of forwards but I think West Ham are going to have their tails up after last Saturday’s impressive performance. They will also want to once again show that life goes on without Dimitri Payet and the best way to show that is a win. Therefore I’ll go with an away win Today.
