ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - CHELSEA V WEST HAM UNITED

English Premier

2011-04-23 - Chelsea vs West Ham United

A Sports Betting Pick by Lamps

CHELSEA vs WEST HAM UNITED
Football : England : Premiership
Saturday 23rd April 2011 - Kickoff 5:30pm

Chelsea

Last 5 Chelsea games at home : W4-D0-L1 F8-A3

Champions Chelsea has regained second place from Arsenal on goal difference following their 3-1 win over Birmingham midweek. That leaves Ancelotti’s side 6 points behind United with 5 to play, I personally believe the title race is over but Ancelotti doesn’t think so and has stressed he wants 5 wins from the last 5 as Chelsea look to pull of a late season miracle and retain their Premiership crown.

Despite losing to United in the Champions League and Fernando Torres looking like a Sunday league player the side has slowly put together a decent run of domestic form. As you can see the recent home form is 4 wins from 5 with the defeat coming against Liverpool in early February but since then it’s 4 straight home wins on the bounce.

The victories have come over Man United (2-1), Man City (2-0), Wigan (1-0) and Birmingham (3-1) so a mixture of sides playing for different things. Conceding just the 2 goals is pleasing to see and one was a penalty so Chelsea despite Torres not scoring in 13 games has found the net against the toughest opposition and put together a decent run together.

Interestingly Carlo start against United and City in a 4-4-2 but has since reverted back to the tried and trusted 4-3-3. In the recent games including the reverse leg in the Champions League defeat to United the 4-3-3 has meant that Chelsea has had far more control of the game and in particular the midfield. Having the two men out wide up top also creates space for the midfield runners to exploit, this suites Essien and Lampard much greater than a flat 4-4-2.

Only problem is Torres starts on the bench and Drogba starts however the Ivorian has been superb for a few weeks now and looks a real threat. His odds against to score anytime look really appealing right now given how hungry he looks at this late stage of the season.

Team news is that Alex, Cole and Ramires are doubts with Cole recently picking up an ankle injury in the win over Birmingham. The England left back should shake it off and start however if he fails to do so Zhirkov or Bertrand will start.

Elsewhere Carlo has hinted that he may make changes to freshen things up but on the other hand as each game is must win I can't see too much chopping and changing. Kalou and Malouda may be rested and Torres and Anelka coming in which would be interesting to see who he plays on the wing Torres or Drogba, or he could surprise us all and go 4-4-2. Keep your eyes open for the team news on game day for this one!

Predicted Chelsea Lineup:
Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Essien, Mikel, Lampard; Torres, Anelka, Drogba.

West Ham

Last 5 United games away : W1-D3-L1 F8-A9

Avram Grant's West Ham side sit in the bottom two of the table and it’s very much must win time between now and the end of the season. The Hammers are 1 of 5 sides separated by 3 points but 3 must go down and right now it doesn’t look good for the Hammers.

After back to back wins against Liverpool and Stoke back in late Feb/early March this side has gone to lose 3 out of the next 4 and all 3 defeats have come in the last 3 games. All the momentum that was built up has been crushed and the 2-1 home defeat to Villa last time out has really deflated the side, up next is a visit to London rivals and Champions Chelsea.

It's not all doom and gloom for West Ham, with 6 points from a possible 15 in the last 5 road games the Hammers currently sit 8th in the current away form table. Yes, it's only a win and 3 draws but only 1 defeat in 5 away from home when sitting in the bottom 2 is quite impressive.

The Hammers must use their decent away form as a catalyst to spur them on and not the recent 3 game defeats. On their travels points have been picked up at West Brom (3-3), Blackpool (1-3), Tottenham (0-0) and Everton (2-2) with the last 2 mentioned very good results with not many going to Goodison and White Hart Lane taking something from the game.

However, I must also add that in the last away game this side was awful in a 3-0 defeat to Bolton, a side that had 1 eye on a cup semi final so I’m not entirely sure how much confidence this side actually has right now.

Team news is that Kurucz, and Stanislas are out with doubts over Collison, Parker, Da Costa, Tomkins and O’Neil. Amongst the doubts those to Parker and O’Neil are really important to West Ham, both have had very good seasons with Parker in particular having a sensational year. Parker has an Achilles problem and early reports are that he is likely to miss out, as is O’Neil, if this is the case West Ham could be in for a really long day out at the Bridge.

Elsewhere Da Costa picked up a calf injury at the weekend faces a late fitness test but the good news is he should recover in time if not Gabbidon should start. Up front last time out goal scorer Keane should start with Cole and Ba supporting after Ba was benched last time out against Villa. Like the Chelsea lineup keep an eye out on this one if Parker and O’Neil don't make it, the midfield could really get overrun by Chelsea.

Predicted Hammers Lineup:
Green, Tomkins, da Costa, Upson, Bridge; Noble, Hitzlsperger, O’Neil; Ba, Keane, Cole.

The Betting Verdict

Both sides are looking for a win but both have very different levels of confidence coming into the game.

Chelsea's run of victories is impressive whilst West Ham's run of defeats is hardly inspiring, speaking of inspiring if Parker misses out (seems likely) it's hard to see where West Ham’s spark will come from.

I think Chelsea should have enough to beat West Ham and we should see a few goals in this one given that the Blues have scored 6 in the last 2 and West Ham are conceding just under 2 goals a game on the road. Home Win.

Good Luck.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

No value in the home win.

Try Chelsea -1.75 AH at 1.86 at PinancleSports rather than -2 at a bigger price, think this will end 2 or 3 nil