West Ham v Chelsea Preview

Benitez and Allardyce have a long standing feud from years back and they will definitely try to up one another again in this game. West Ham come into the game in 10th while Chelsea remains in third.

West Ham's form has faltered slightly of late, picking up 2 point out of a possible 18. Confidence does not seem to be running high in the team but they will be consoled by the fact that on loan striker Andy Carroll has opened his account for the season last weekend against Tottenham, albeit it being a consolation goal. They will also be bouyed by the return of Mark Noble, with him being instrumental for starting the team's attacks. West Ham should largely be utilising the tactics they employed to gain a point against Manchester City, sitting deep and trying to catch the opponents on the break. The key players will be Momo Diame and Matt Jarvis. Diame is good at skipping past challenges when the opponents pressure, which Chelsea is likely to do high up the field. Once he gets past that first challenge, he will be able to pass to Jarvis who has the pace and trickery to get to the byline. Chelsea needs to be wary of this as he can deliver a pinpoint cross and the aerial threat of Carroll is well known.

Benitez knows that the heat is on him coming into the game after two successive 0-0 draws. He might have solved the defensive problems that plagued the team but he left the lone striker Torres very isolated up front during the game against City. This is where West Ham playing deep might actually be favourable to Chelsea. They will be able to push more players forward in support of Torres and not lose the ball everytime they pump it up. It will also be useful for Eden Hazard, who will be able to run at the defenders at speed. Chelsea will need to play Mata in the game in place of Bertrand as Mata has the ability to unlock defenses in a way that others cannot. His carefully weighted passes can win Chelsea the game, but only if Torres and the other attackers make good runs into space.

Predictions:

Benitez's previous approach suggests that he will look to defend first and his stubborn nature means that this is unlikely to change. That is why I am surprised that there are odds of 1/3 for West Ham to score a goal or less. I also like the 8/13 on offer for it being a draw at the 30th minute as neither teams are fast starters in games. With both teams needing the win, I fancy taking on the bet of there being a card between the 75th minute and full time at 1/2. Lastly, there is 8/1 to be taken if anyone fancies a third successive goal-less draw for Chelsea though I will advise punters to look more at a 1-0 scoreline but I can't seem to call which way it will go.