BPL 2018-19 – West Ham vs Chelsea Betting Preview
Rampant Chelsea will look to continue their perfect start to the season as they go away to West Ham where they’ve struggled in recent years! West Ham have just in time picked up their first win of their season at Goodison Park as they beat Everton 1-3 and they will be coming into this game full of confidence looking to dethrone Chelsea like last season. This is expected to be a very tough game for the Blues.
Key Facts
West Ham have played Chelsea 3 times in the Olympic Stadium in all competitions and have beaten them twice! Most recently last season 1-0. They’ve won 3 of their last 4 home games against Chelsea if you include the last meeting at the Boleyn Ground.
West Ham have been very shaky defensively already conceding 11 goals in 5 league games. They’ve not kept a single clean sheet so far. Not even in the cup against Wimbledon.
Marko Arnautovic is Hammers top scorer in the league this season with 3 goals and he’s their main threat . He scored in this fixture last season as West Ham won 1-0.
4 of 5 West Ham’s games had an over 2.5 goals mark hit in the league this season.
West Ham struggles have been continuing in their new home this season again losing to both Bournemouth and Wolves. West Ham’s league record at Olympic stadium is 14W 13D 16L which is poor.
Chelsea have won all 5 of their league games this season and have beaten PAOK in Greece to kick start their Europa League campaign making it 6/6 in all competitions.
Chelsea are the 2nd highest scoring team in the league with 14 goals in 5 games.
Eden Hazard is the man in form with 5 goals and 2 assists. He scored or assisted in every game for club and country this season.
4 of Chelsea’s 5 league games have also had an over 2.5 goals mark hit.
Maurizio Sarri became only the 4th manager to win his first 5 league matches after Shakespeare, Guardiola and Ancelotti.
Team News
West Ham: West Ham have actually got quite a lot of injuries. Carroll, Lanzini and Reid are all still out with long term injuries. Wilshere is also out for this match meanwhile Chicarito and star man Arnautovic are both injury doubts. Last week we saw Declan Rice play over injured Wilshere and he put in a MOTM performance in a win against Everton therefore he is expected to start against Chelsea. That’s pretty much it for West Ham’s team news in terms of injuries. If they do indeed miss both Arnautovic and Chicarito, then there’s a potential chance that Lucas Perez gets to lead the front line for the Hammers. Yarmolenko has scored 2 goals last week and is one of the players to watch out this weekend from the West Ham point of view.
Chelsea: Matteo Kovacic did pick up an injury last week and could potentially miss out on this clash. However, Ross Barkley put in a very good shift during the midweek match against PAOK and could start in place of Kovacic. Also, Fabregas has returned, Loftus-Cheek is a potential option so Chelsea do have some good options in that midfield to replace Kovacic if necessary. Also, Pedro picked up a shoulder injury against PAOK so Willian may start on the right side. Willian has hit some good form by scoring against Cardiff and PAOK. Elsewhere expect Giroud to return to starting line-up after Morata missed a ton of chances again against PAOK and of course main man Eden Hazard is well rested and is ready to go off again.
Betting Tips and Predictions
This game screams goals. West Ham are a leaky defensive side with a ton of attacking talent, Chelsea are a suspect defensive side with world class talent up front. We’re looking at BTTS even at 1.63 it’s a good bet because let’s be fair both teams should score here easily. Over 3 goals at 1.95 is another pick. Chelsea should be able to win this match but it can turn into an absolute goal fest and this game could potentially finish like 1-3/2-3. Eden Hazard to score anytime is worth a look too given his unbelievable form right now. We wouldn’t recommend backing a Chelsea win though because the odds don’t hold much value for an away game especially since they’ve played in Greece on Thursday. Chelsea should be able to win but we wouldn’t risk that bet. Goals overs are the bets picks here.
Match Odds (TonyBet)
West Ham Win – 5.65
Draw – 4.35
Chelsea Win – 1.60
KICK OFF – 23rd September 2018 – 1:30pm UK Time
