West Ham v Chelsea tips: Expect goals in attack-minded contest
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Having halted their losing start to the season with a 3-1 win over Everton, West Ham United look to make it two from two when they host Chelsea this afternoon.
It won’t be easy though. The Blues have looked excellent under Maurizio Sarri thus far, and have won all six of their matches in all competitions.
But the Hammers have looked likely going forward, and three of their five matches this term have seen four goals scored, so it should be an entertaining encounter at the London Stadium…
Match odds
Victory over the Toffees last weekend hasn’t done much for the Hammers’ odds. Manuel Pellegrini’s men are 9/2 outsiders. They have beaten Chelsea at home in 2013, 2015 and 2017, however.
Sarri’s side are odds-on at 4/7 for a seventh successive win, while a repeat of April’s draw is 16/5.
Talking tactics
The Hammers are far better in attack than they are in defence. So Pellegrini’s best hope is to fight fire with fire and have a go at Chelsea.
They may need to be patient and play on the counter, though. It’ll be difficult to get the ball off Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic, and even then they’ll need to find a way past running machine N’Golo Kante.
But Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko can keep the Blues’ backline under pressure, while Marko Arnautovic will look to float between their midfield and defence.
It’ll all count for nothing though, if the Irons can’t keep tabs on Eden Hazard. The Belgian has arguably been the player of the season so far. Olivier Giroud will provide an aerial threat too.
Goalscorer odds
Hazard has already scored four times past the Hammers before, and the forward is 7/2 favourite to score the opener this afternoon.
He’s followed in the betting by Alvaro Morata and Giroud, each at 4/1.
Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez are deemed West Ham’s most likely first goalscorers at 13/2 apiece. Both men scored against Chelsea last season.
In the anytime market, Hazard leads the way at 23/20 ahead of Morata and Giroud at 5/4. Yarmolenko is 11/4 anytime, following his double against Everton last time out.
Match info:
Where: London Stadium
When: 1:30pm
How to watch: Sky Sports Football / Main Event / Premier League
Click here for all our West Ham v Chelsea odds.
All Odds and Markets correct as of date of publication
