Chelsea use wings to fly high
The London derby is set for Sunday afternoon when West Ham, with a win in the bank, take on high flying Chelsea. I’ve found a decent bet on corners for this one.
Positive play
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini finally racked up his first win at West Ham when his team stormed to a 1-3 win away from home to Everton. It comes as a welcome delight for a West Ham team that haven’t tasted the sweetness of victory in some time. Now the Hammers can go into their match up against Chelsea with a little more strength to give their Chelsea rivals a game of it.
Chelsea will be the dominant team
It’ll do well to remember to expect a fairly even contest when these two meet up on Sunday. Last time round West Ham beat Chelsea at home and held Chelsea to a bore draw at Stamford Bridge.
Even considering the fact that both teams find themselves at opposite ends of the table, West Ham will nag at Chelsea’s defence long enough to keep themselves in the game. Of course for the majority of the match, Chelsea will be the dominant team and produce the majority of the offensive play.
The real Hazard
On the other side of London Chelsea continue to steam ahead and Sarri is working wonders to get the best of Hazard who’s finally managing to turn his superior footballing acumen into solid goalscoring opportunities. Hazard has shown what he’s capable of for some time now but has had a difficult time of it in the final third.
Chelsea are favourites
Of course Chelsea are favourites considering the form they’ve been in, but they won’t have it all their own way. After getting a taste of victory for the first time last week, West Ham aren’t going to lie down. It’s all likely that Chelsea might be a bit worn out after their trip to Greece on Thursday night. Although key players such as Hazard, Luiz and Kovacic didn’t travel to Greece for the match against PAOK.
Corner balls
It comes as a real surprise to note that in the last six matches against each other Chelsea have won the battle for corners, but I think this strange streak will come to an end this time round. Chelsea are pushing forward with real speed and using the wings to great effect. Especially if William or Pedro start there should be a number of corner opportunities. With Hazard sweeping forward, he should earn 2-3 corners by himself.
Chelsea have created around 5.4 corners per match and have conceded an average of 3.4 against. On the other hand, West Ham have created 3.6 corners per match and conceded 4.8 against.
Match Tips
All things considered I’m going in for a bet on corners in Chelsea’s favour, playing Asian handicap -1.5 corners at odds of 1/1 with bet365.
