Barclays Premier League
Burnley v West Ham United
Turf Moor
Saturday 6 February 2010
3pm
Referee: Steve Bennett
• West Ham United return to action boosted by the arrival of three new forwards - Benni McCarthy from Blackburn Rovers, Mido on loan from Middlesbrough via Eygptian side Zamalek and Ilan from French club AS Saint-Etienne. Even more crucially, the transfer window slammed shut with none of the club's key performers having to be sold following the arrival of new owners David Sullivan and David Gold.
• Burnley, the hosts on Saturday, also made a couple of deadline day acquisitions, extending David Nugent's loan from Portsmouth until the end of the season and taking Chelsea youngster Jack Cork on loan until the summer. Earlier in the month, they acquired Celtic left-back Danny Fox, Stoke City centre-back Leon Cort, AS Monaco forward Frederic Nimani on loan and out-of-contract keeper Nicky Weaver.
• The Hammers head to Burnley for the first time since 5 April 2004 when Teddy Sheringham's 83rd-minute goal gave them a 1-0 win. Only Mark Noble remains at the club from that side, playing 76 minutes before being substituted on only his ninth league appearance for the club.
• Gianfranco Zola's men have drawn their last three games - Aston Villa (0-0), Portsmouth (1-1) and Blackburn Rovers (0-0) - and only lost once in the last six league outings. However, they have not won away from home since the opening day of the season when they secured a 2-0 triumph at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 15 August.
• Brian Laws' team have not won in their last 12 league outings, with their last victory coming against Hull City on 31 October. Laws, since taking over from Owen Coyle on 13 January, has led the team in four matches and lost all four.
• Saturday's meeting will be the second meeting between the teams in the Premier League, following the Hammers' 5-3 triumph at the Boleyn Ground on 28 November 2009. That match was the first time West Ham had won by that scoreline since Oxford United visited east London in the old Division One in November 1992.
• West Ham have enjoyed an excellent run of form against the Clarets, with eight wins and two draws from their last ten meetings. That run means you have to go back 32 years to find Burnley's last victory over their visitors on Saturday - a 3-2 win at Turf Moor on 9 September 1978.
• Burnley have still not won away from home this season but are a different proposition at home. They have won five and drawn four of their eleven fixtures at Turf Moor.
• West Ham United go into the weekend's game in 15th place in the Barclays Premier League, one point above their hosts who sit in 19th spot. The Hammers have a vastly-superior goal difference - minus nine compared to Burnley's minus 23.
• This will be the 72nd league meeting between the clubs, West Ham have won 26 with 16 draws.
Last time out
Saturday 30 January 2010
Barclays Premier League
West Ham United 0-0 Blackburn
West Ham United: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Spector, Diamanti, Behrami (Parker 70), Kovac (Cole 57), Noble, Collison, Nouble (Sears 78)
Subs not used: Stech, Da Costa, Ilunga, Stanislas
Saturday 30 January 2010
Barclays Premier League
Burnley 1-2 Chelsea
Burnley: Jensen, Kalvenes (Edgar 35), Carlisle, Mears, Cort, Bikey, McDonald (Paterson 60), Elliott, Eagles, Fletcher, Blake (Thompson 72)
Subs not used: Weaver, Duff, Gudjonsson, Nimani 'galou
Goal: Fletcher 50
Last meeting
• The last meeting between the two sides was a 5-3 win by the Hammers at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 28 November. West Ham raced into a 5-0 goal lead just after the hour mark only for their visitors to provide some late drama with three goals in the final 22 minutes.
• The teams that day were:
West Ham United: Green, Gabbidon, Spector, Ilunga, Da Costa, Parker, Kovac, Collison (Faubert 78), Stanislas, Cole (Hines 45), Franco (Jimenez 59)
Subs not used: Kurucz, Tomkins, Noble, Nouble
Goals: Collison 18, Stanislas 33, Cole 43 pen, Franco 51, Jimenez 64 pen
Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Jordan (Nugent 55), Carlisle, Bikey, Caldwell (sent off 90), Eagles, Alexander (McDonald 70), Elliott, Blake (Kalvenes 55), Fletcher
Subs not used: Thompson, Duff, Penny, Gudjonsson
Goals: Fletcher 68, 74, Eagles 90
Head to head
• Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
28 November 2009 West Ham United 5-3 Burnley
5 April 2005 Burnley 0-1 West Ham United (Championship)
28 August 2004 West Ham United 1-0 Burnley (Championship)
2 March 2004 Burnley 1-1 West Ham United (Championship)
18 October 2003 West Ham United 2-2 Burnley (Championship)
2 September 1980 West Ham United 4-0 Burnley (League Cup)
• Overall record v Burnley (all competitions) W30 D16 L29
Next up
• West Ham United welcome Birmingham City to the Boleyn Ground on Wednesday evening, with Burnley heading to the capital on Tuesday night to take on Fulham.
Referee
• Saturday's referee will be Steve Bennett.
• Steve Bennett is 49 and has been a Premier League referee since 1999. Bennett began refereeing in 1984 before graduating to the Football League in 1995. He was appointed as an official FIFA referee in 2001 before retiring in 2006 at the compulsory age of 45.
• Bennett took charge of the 2005 League Cup final at the Millennium Stadium between Chelsea and Liverpool and the 2007 FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United.
• This will be his second West Ham United game of the season. He took charge of the 2-1 home win against Aston Villa on 4 November when Zavon Hines hit a 93rd-minute winner.
• He had the honour of officiating in Burnley's first-ever Barclays Premier League match when they lost 2-0 at Stoke City on 15 August. He has not taken charge of a Clarets game since.
West Ham United
• West Ham United will be hoping to continue the run of form that has seen them lose just once in their last six games.
• The Hammers' minus-nine goal difference tells its own story when compared to the teams around them in the league table.
• Zola's men have yet to lose away this year, albeit in just two matches last month - the 0-0 stalemate at Aston Villa and the 1-1 draw at Portsmouth.
• The Hammers have scored all seven of the penalties they have been awarded this season, a Premier League high.
• West Ham have scored 29 goals this season in the league with eleven different scorers on target. Carlton Cole leads the way (seven), with Alessandro Diamanti (five) and Guille Franco and Matthew Upson (three) next in line. Jack Collison, Junior Stanislas (two each), Manuel da Costa, Mark Noble, the departed Luis Jimenez, Zavon Hines and Radoslav Kovac have also registered.
• Scott Parker has been cautioned seven times this season and Franco and Noble five. Julien Faubert, Cole, Collison and Kovac are each on four yellow cards, but will not be suspended if they receive a fifth as the FA disciplinary deadline has passed.
• Only Robert Green has played in every league game for the club this season. He is on a run of 111 successive league starts.
• Cole is on a run of 14 goals in 25 league starts since Boxing Day 2008 when he scored the second goal in a 4-1 win at Portsmouth. He has not started a game since the last Burnley match on 28 November, when he scored from the penalty spot before being substituted at half-time.
• Alessandro Diamanti has the highest number of shots (56) and assists (four) at the club.
• Mark Noble has put in more crosses than anyone else (23).
• Central defensive partners Matthew Upson and James Tomkins lead the way in the defensive clearances and defensive blocks lists respectively. Upson has made 29 clearances, while Tomkins has 21 blocks.
• West Ham United's record win over Burnley came on 26 August 1968, when a Martin Peters goal and braces from Geoff Hurst and Trevor Brooking secured a 5-0 win that briefly sent the Hammers to the top of the table.
• The best performance at Turf Moor was a 5-3 success on 28 September 1974.
Burnley
• Stephen Fletcher is Burnley's top scorer this season with ten goals - six of which have come in the Premier League. Most recently, he scored last weekend in the 2-1 defeat by Chelsea. His 48 shots this season are the most of any Clarets player.
• Former Hammers defender Tyrone Mears has the most assists (five) of any Burnley player.
• Chris Eagles has crossed the ball 42 times.
• Clarke Carlisle has made 43 blocks and 17 tackles - more than any other Burnley player this season.
• Burnley's record home win against West Ham at Turf Moor came with a 6-0 triumph on 3 March 1962 in the old Division One.
Team news
• Benni McCarthy, Mido and Ilan will all travel after all three new forwards looked good in training at Chadwell Heath this week.
• Alessandro Diamanti (knee) and Fabio Daprela (ankle) are both doubtful with minor knocks.
• Gianfranco Zola has had some good news on the injury-front, with Herita Ilunga and Kieron Dyer pushing to play, along with Carlton Cole and Scott Parker, who both came off the bench last Saturday against Blackburn Rovers.
• Cole has come off the bench in the last two games. West Ham's top scorer had been sidelined with a knee injury picked up in the home game with Burnley on 28 November.
• Danny Gabbidon (hamstring) and Guille Franco (thigh) are due to step up their rehab work and it is hoped they will return to full training in the next week.
• Luis Boa Morte (knee), Calum Davenport (leg) and Zavon Hines (knee) are all long-term absentees. Boa Morte has been doing some light jogging around the Chadwell Heath pitches - having not played since his cruciate ligament injury in July.
• Burnley could give a debut to new signing Danny Fox, but the former Celtic player is recovering from a groin strain. Scotland defender Steven Caldwell is also a doubt with a similar injury.
• Defenders Stephen Jordan and Christian Kalvenes are both facing a race to be fit after suffering hamstring injuries, while veteran Graham Alexander has been nursing a calf strain.
• Midfielder Chris McCann will definitely miss Saturday's game with a medial knee ligament injury.
Old boys
• Burnley defender Tyrone Mears played six games during a one-season stay at the Boleyn Ground in 2006/07, before being sold to Derby County in July 2007.
• Other players to have represented both clubs include Ian Wright, David Unsworth, Reg Atwell, Frank Birchenough, Herman Conway, Tommy Green, Walter Pollard, Jack Tresadern and William Jenkinson.
General info
• For ticket information, click here.
• Saturday's weather forecast is for an overcast day with a top temperature of 6C.