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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first Premier League match in charge of Cardiff City pits him against an experienced manager under severe pressure as Sam Allardyce takes his West Ham United side to Wales for a vital encounter in the relegation battle.
Both sides are battling for their top-flight survival and there are currently just three points between them, with West Ham languishing inside the bottom three and Cardiff perched precariously just above.
Malky Mackay's efforts were not enough to keep him in a job at Cardiff and Solskjaer was handed the reins by owner Vincent Tan after watching their 2-0 defeat by Arsenal on New Year's Day.
He made an ideal start as the Bluebirds beat Newcastle United 2-1 last weekend to progress in the FA Cup, but the Norwegian's main challenge is to keep the club up and he faces a potentially pivotal January.
As well as trying to strengthen his squad, Solskjaer has trips to Manchester City and former club Manchester United to come before the end of the month, so he will be desperate to pick up three points against West Ham and end a four-match winless streak.
West Ham have had to wait even longer since their last victory, having not tasted success in the league in seven matches to plummet down the standings.
A 2-1 loss to fellow strugglers Fulham left them three points adrift of safety, and Cardiff, and a couple of cup outings have provided further misery rather than the desired respite.
The Hammers were thrashed 5-0 by Championship side Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup last weekend, before going down 6-0 to a rampant Manchester City in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Allardyce has vowed to battle on and has so far received the backing of his owners, and will be confident of turning the corner if key players return from injury and the right men can be signed in the transfer window.
Paul Merson's prediction
This is the biggest game of the whole season so far. Whoever loses here could be relegated. If Cardiff lose this match then West Ham will go above them on goal difference and then they are unlikely to get anything from their next two games against Man United and Man City.
They could be stuck in the bottom three and that will be demoralising. However, if they win then they will be six points clear of West Ham and will most likely still be above them after those two tough games. That's why this is massive.
If Sam Allardyce got the sack then any other team at the bottom would take him, but he's in a major rut with West Ham. They are missing centre-backs, which is a real problem, and they've got no centre-forward. They've had bad luck, but the way they've lost matches is really not good.
They've brought in Roger Johnson, who can't get in a League One team and has been on loan at a team near the bottom of the Championship. That shows you where West Ham are at the moment and I've got to go for Cardiff.
I really hope West Ham don't go down though because their fans are a different class - just look at how many went to Nottingham Forest and Man City this week!
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-0
Last edited by Admin on Fri 10 Jan 2014, 7:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
