Derby double on Chelsea and West Brom has ample pulling power
Published:On another night of highly appetising Premier League football, bang-in form Chelsea host London rivals West Ham, while Pepe Mel gets his first taste of the west Midlands derby as he bids to inflict more home misery on rivals Aston Villa.
We’ve done our research on these geographical needle matches and suggest punters slam them both in a double which pays out at a very reasonable 13/5 if both teams prevail.
It’s fairly safe to call this result the bedrock of our double. With a home Premier League game against Swansea to come at the weekend it would be no great shock if Sam Allardyce had already (privately) written this game off as a loss.
The gulf in class and current form of these two sides couldn’t be more contrasting at this point.
Chelsea have only dropped two points at Stamford Bridge all season and as they go in search of eight consecutive wins in all competitions, it would take a brave man to back the Hammers – who’ve lost five of their last six in all comps – taking anything from this game.
The Baggies claiming a victory over their midlands rivals is more of a gamble, but it’s certainly not a stab in the dark as Aston Villa continue to flounder badly at home.
With no win in six at Villa Park, including three losses out of their last four, the Villans are less than comfortable in their own back yard.
Villa’s emergence as the archetypal counter-attacking team is a great weapon on the road, but at home Paul Lambert has yet to concoct the correct alchemy, which was perfectly illustrated by losing to League One Sheffield United in the FA Cup.
The hosts’ last league home win arrived in early November – one of only two so far this season – and although the Baggies have hardly pulled up any trees, they’ve only lost one of their last three away and can feed off the new manager factor.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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