BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson has praised Felipe Anderson and predicted a victory for West Ham United against Cardiff City on Tuesday, plumping for a 2-0 win for the Hammers.
Both teams were victorious in the last round of Premier League fixtures, with the Bluebirds claiming an impressive victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday and Manuel Pellegrini’s side seeing off Newcastle United a day later.
Lawrenson sees a home victory at the London Stadium: “West Ham had one of their good days at Newcastle on Saturday, with Felipe Anderson continuing his excellent form,” he wrote on the BBC Sport website.
“Cardiff’s win over Wolves on Friday night was a brilliant result for them, but they are another team who have been struggling on the road, taking only one point from six matches.”
OPINION
This is a game where you would expect the Hammers to come out on top. West Ham pulled off an excellent result at a bouncing St James’ Park on Saturday and they’ll be looking to take that momentum into Tuesday’s contest. This could be a bit of a banana skin game for the hosts, though. Everyone will be expecting Pellegrini’s team to walk over Cardiff, but the Bluebirds could be tougher opposition than they expect. Neil Warnock’s side have improved in form of late and certainly won’t roll over for the Hammers. Anderson could be key once again, however, As Lawrenson says, he was superb against the Magpies and has looked impressive for a number of games now. If he can harness his undoubted talent once again at the London Stadium then it’s likely that the hosts do come away with all three points. Cardiff will be stiff opposition, however, so we could be looking at a scrappy 1-0 win for West Ham.