TWO teams with very different targets for the remainder of the season lock horns at the London Stadium on Wednesday night when West Ham play host to Chelsea.
The Hammers are involved in a tense scrap for survival while Chelsea are fiercely competing for Champions League qualification.
West Ham are in huge trouble and last Tuesday night's 2-0 defeat away at Tottenham has left the Irons perched precariously above the relegation zone on goal difference.
David Moyes (below) returned to the London Stadium hot-seat at the turn of the year, however, the Scotsman has been unable to halt West Ham's slide towards the Premier League‘s trap door.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have restarted their Premier League campaign with a bang – the Blues followed up their 2-1 victory at Villa Park by putting Man City to the sword last Thursday night.
Consequently, Frank Lampard's young side are now firmly in the driving seat to return to Europe's top-table next term and the capital club also booked a place in the last-four of the FA Cup on Sunday with a 1-0 win away at Leicester.
Outright Betting
West Ham have fallen to defeat in five of their last six matches and the bookies odds suggest that sequence is set to be extended with a home win trading at 24/5 with William Hill while the draw is also deemed unlikely at 10/3 with UniBet.
Chelsea are targeting a sixth win on the spin across all competitions and an away success on Wednesday night is heavily fancied at a best 8/13 with UniBet.
Betting Angles
Chelsea have been red-hot since the restart and I fancy the Blues to bag another three points this midweek when they come up against a West Ham team who possess the joint-second worst home record in the division, having amassed just 15 points from a possible 45 thus far.
I cashed in on the Hammers defensive vulnerability when they hosted Wolves by backing the visitors to score or two or more goals but backing two away strikes here looks a bit short at 8/13 with Bet 365.
However, adding over three Chelsea corners when utilising Bet 365's Builder feature will boost the price up to a much-more enticing 5/6 with Bet 365.
Lampard's men have scored at least two goals in each of their last five top-flight tussles and I'm happy to combine that with four or more Chelsea corners on a night where West Ham are expected to take a safety first approach.
Indeed, the Premier League has been very low on entertainment since the resumption, however, the Hammers have conceded two goals in both of their run-outs since the resumption and West Ham have kept just one clean sheet in their last 13 matches at the London Stadium – a sample that has seen toothless sides such as Brighton, Crystal Palace and Newcastle all notch at least two goals at this venue.
With that in mind coupled with Chelsea's impressive road record – only Liverpool and Man City have picked up more points on their travels – the above-mentioned Bet Builder takes appeal.
That line of thought could also see value lie in the 20/23 (Coral) on offer for Chelsea to win and over 1.5 match goals – a bet that would have banked profit in both of the Blues league wins since the restart.
However, rather than hanging my hat on two Chelsea goals, I'm instead going to combine an away win and under five match goals which can be backed at Even-Money with Coral – a combination that has clicked in each of the Blues last five matches across all competitions.
This English Premier League match between West Ham and Chelsea will be played on Jul 1, 2020 and kick off at 20:15. Check below for our tipsters best West Ham vs Chelsea prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
