Jenkinson’s belief in a West Ham victory over Chelsea well placed

They say that success breeds confidence and that appears all too clear in the case of West Ham.

After continuing their unbeaten record on the road when running out 3-1 victors at Crystal Palace on Saturday, the Hammers currently occupy the Champions League places in an excellent maiden Premier League campaign for Slaven Bilic.

Next up for the high flying East Enders is a fixture that would ordinarily leave even the most optimistic Irons fans half-expecting a defeat, as they prepare to host Chelsea.

But for on loan full-back Carl Jenkinson, despite the champions’ victory over Aston Villa on Saturday, the spoils are there for the taking.

“We have got every chance of beating them,” he told the London Evening Standard.

“Coming off the Palace result we are going to be buzzing going into that game. It was a massive win for us. Chelsea have started the season poorly but they are a top team and with the players they have got they are going to turn things round.

“They beat Aston Villa at the weekend but we are desperate to keep our run going. If we keep playing how we have been, I think we have got every chance.”

The Hammers are 14/5 shots for victory over Jose Mourinho’s men next Saturday, but is Jenkinson’s confidence set to be rewarded?

It would need to be an upturn in fortunes against the capital rivals, with the Hammers beating Chelsea just once in the last 19 meetings – the Blues taking the points on 15 of those occasions.

However, this is not a Chelsea team that we have been used to in recent seasons.

Despite their victory against a struggling Villa outfit the west Londoners still find themselves in the bottom half of the table.

Their usually solid back-line has been well and truly put to the sword this term, conceding 17 goals in their opening nine Premier League games.

To put that into context, that is more than they conceded in their opening nine fixtures in 2013-14 and 2014-15 put together.

In fact, it took until New Year’s Day before they reached 19 goals shipped last term.

The Hammers look in fine form to exploit any defensive frailties this term, being outscored by just Manchester City in the top-flight.

Their new-look free-flowing style of play has seen them net two or more in all but one of their Premier League matches this term.

They’ve not only scored more and conceded fewer goals this term, but they’ve also had more shots on target and had a better success rate in the tackle.

Throw in that Chelsea have only won three of their last eight games that have followed a Champions League fixture in midweek and Jenkinson’s confidence could be well placed.

Victory, of course, won’t be secured with stats and the hosts will need to continue their high flying form to halt the visitor’s revival, but all signs point to Bilic’s men looking solid early value.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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