West Ham vs Chelsea Betting Tips (20/08/23)

The Build-Up

This London derby pits together two sides that began the 2023/24 Premier League season with 1-1 draws. West Ham United, as they rebuild following the summer sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal, shared a 1-1 draw away to AFC Bournemouth in midweek. The Hammers could hand debuts to midfield duo Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse, who have joined from Ajax and Southampton respectively, for a combined fee of just over £60 million.

After spending the majority of last season battling against relegation, West Ham will be expecting to push further up the table this season but, with no Rice and UEFA Europa League group stage football after winning the UEFA Europa Conference League last season, things could continue to be a little tricky for the hosts but there is very little like a derby match to get the best out of a squad of players.

Chelsea’s summer spending has continued at ridiculous levels. The arrivals of Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo this week means they have now spent over £350 million this summer and over £1 billion in the three transfer windows since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over the club last summer.

Mauricio Pochettino’s task is to create a clear and coherent team in fairly difficult off-field circumstances and it is a situation where more is less in west London. That said, there were clear signs of improvement on last season with their 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool last week and a season of rebuild will likely suffice for this year.

Betting Trends to Watch

West Ham endured a difficult end, in terms of results, to their pre-season schedule with defeats to Rennes and Bayer Leverkusen following a draw with Dagenham and Redbridge. On the opening day, though, star forward Jarrod Bowen notched, meaning he has now scored in three of his last four appearances in competitive fixtures for The Hammers, including the end of last season.

That form means he is one to keep an eye on for the goal-scoring markets. Another would be Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson. Preferred up-front and putting in an impressive all-round performance at Stamford Bridge last weekend, logic would dictate that the chance he missed in the first half of that match is not one he would expect to miss too many times but is one he would expect to receive a few times this season with it being from a well-constructed and planned move.

Given that West Ham have kept just 2 clean sheets in their last 12 matches across all competitions since April, Chelsea and Jackson will more than fancy their chances of notching at the London Stadium but West Ham will be keen on exploiting the space that was on offer in behind Axel Disasi and Levi Colwill from last weekend, especially through Bowen.

The Form

West Ham’s 1-1 draw away to AFC Bournemouth on the opening day of the season means that, including pre-season friendlies, David Moyes’ men have now been winless in their last five matches. Although, in competitive fixtures, The Irons have suffered just three defeats in nine matches with all three losses coming away from home.

Chelsea’s pre-season results mean that they are now technically unbeaten in seven matches. However, quite remarkably, The Blues have managed just 1 win in their last 15 matches across all competitions. The arrival of Pochettino suggests that we can’t look into that form too deeply but it could give us an insight into the belief levels within the club.

Head-to-Head Meetings

These two capital city rivals have faced off 120 times throughout football history with their first meeting being in October 1923. Chelsea have 54 victories with West Ham United managing 43 wins. In recent times, Chelsea have been dominant with 4 victories and a draw in the two sides’ last six meetings. That said, though, they have won just 1 of the last 6 matches between the two at the London Stadium, in a run that stretches back to March 2017.

Both teams have scored in 3 of the last 4 encounters played between these two capital city rivals so the price on that outcome appears attractive. There have also been over 2.5 goals scored in 4 of the last 7 meetings. This gives the suggestion that we can be optimistic of goals being scored in this game. Particularly how both defences have looked so far this pre-season and last weekend.

West Ham United vs Chelsea Betting Tips

Whilst David Moyes’ side cannot often be labelled as overly aggressive or front foot, The Hammers will seek to exploit what should be a raucous home atmosphere against ‘hated’ opposition so a West Ham goal is likely and the most likely man to score it is, as mentioned, Jarrod Bowen.

Chelsea, under the management of Pochettino, left a lot of gaps last weekend but also attacked with, already, a lot more cohesion than they did throughout pretty much the entirety of last season so a fairly entertaining encounter is to be expected. Chelsea look like they may impress this season whereas their opposition appears to be in flux so backing the visitors for my Premier League tips this Sunday does look to be a good way to go for this one.

All odds are accurate at the time of writing.