Burton vs West Ham Prediction: Hammers to avoid cup shock

Burton Albion have got a plum tie in the FA Cup Fourth Round as they welcome West Ham United to the Pirelli Stadium (12:15 GMT, TNT Sports 1). 

The Brewers will hope to cause a major shock in front of the cameras, and look to put their poor league form to one side, as they currently sit in the bottom four of the third tier. Check out my Burton vs West Ham predictions down below. 

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Burton boss Gary Bowyer will want his side to take this opportunity and use the confidence garnered to stay up, so I think we can expect a strong line-up. Jake Beesley scored twice in the 2-2 draw with Port Vale and Tyrese Shade is his most likely strike partner. 

Andy Cannon is an option off the bench, while Coventry City loanee Brad Collins is likely to keep his place in goal.

After West Ham’s strong performance saw them drew 1-1 with in-form Manchester United, it will be interesting to see how strong Nuno Espirito Santo goes for the cup tie. They are clearly heavy favourites, so we could see serious rotation from the Hammers. 

Kyle Walker-Peters, Max Kilman and Callum Wilson should all come into the side, along with youngsters Oliver Scarles and Ezra Mayers. Soungoutou Magassa and Adama Traore should also be given starts having come off the bench against Manchester United. 

Football Odds

Today's Football Fixtures

Burton vs West Ham Odds

Burton are priced at 13/2 to win this game, with West Ham the obvious favourites at 1/3, giving them an implied win probability of 75%. A draw which would force extra-time is 18/5 while over 2.5 goals in 90 is 8/15. 

BTTS is 4/5 while Wilson is the favourite to score first at 3/1. 

Callum Wilson to score anytime @ 5/6 

I think backing Wilson to score anytime is a fantastic place for us to start. Given the disparity between the two teams, I think we should see a pretty dominant display from the Hammers, even with the slight rotation we can expect from Nuno. 

Wilson looked like he was on his way of the club in January, but given he’s come off the bench in three of the last four Premier League matches and started the other - I think we can assume he will be given a go from the start here. He’s got five Premier League goals this season which is a decent return given he has mainly featured as a substitute and so he should be able to find the net against a leaky Burton outfit that has conceded 45 goals in 30 League 1 outings. 

West Ham to win and BTTS @ 7/4

I’ve already stated the fairly obvious reasons why I think West Ham will win this game in 90 minutes, but I think we can get some more value by also backing both teams to score. Burton have become a pretty entertaining team in the third tier recently, and both teams have scored in their last six league matches. 

That includes two 2-2 draws and three 2-1 defeats, so even up against tougher opposition I think they do pose a goal threat and could find a goal at some point during the tie. West Ham have seen both teams score in six of their last seven games in all competitions, so I believe this is a good price.

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