This week our resident football betting tipster looks at the West Ham v Chelsea Game.
This Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off in the Premier League sees the affluent Blues from the Kings Road travel east to face The Hammers at Upton Park, in what is always a traditionally hard fought and bitter London Derby.
Chelsea’s last trip to West ham was two seasons ago; a game which they ran out 3-1 winners against a frail Hammers side that was leaking goals and would eventually be relegated. It seems an unlikely scenario at the end of this current campaign though; as they lie in a comfortable 8th position having only lost once at home this season.
West Ham manager, Sam Allardyce, may have his critics for the compact and somewhat negative style of football his teams usually display, but you can’t argue with his ability to get results and keep smaller clubs safely within the Premier League top ten, as he did so successfully at Bolton Wanderers for eight years.
Allardyce’s sides can be difficult to break down; as Champions Manchester City found out in early November with a 0-0 draw in East London. He’ll set his team up in a similar way for the visit of European Champions Chelsea, and I can see the game ending in an under 2.5 goal result – 2.05 euro odds, 21/10 normal odds.
Chelsea’s major hurdle in finding the back of the net lies not in the stifling tactics of Allardyce, but in the well publicised slump of their £50m striker, Fernando Torres. The Spaniard has not scored for 559 mins (6 games) and his confidence, instincts and love for the game appears to have all but evaporated.
Rafael Benitez will not have the option of dropping him to the bench though; the previous incumbent Roberto Di Matteo was sacked for doing just this in Turin, as it becomes increasingly clear that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has a large bearing on team selection, and he is still unwilling to admit that the £50m purchase has been a complete disaster.
Benitez’s first game in charge of Chelsea was an ugly affair, for various on and off the field reasons. The 0-0 draw with Man City saw the Blues only manage two shots on target, although they did also contain the attacking threat of City quite competently.
This is what Benitez brings to a club, he will obtain more clean-sheets, but at the expense of creating chances for his own side and ultimately, entertainment. The majority of West Ham’s home matches have ended in under 2.5 goals being scored, and I can see this being the case again on Saturday afternoon.
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Article Written by Andrew Dempsey, Football Tipster