West Ham United v Chelsea Betting Tips

One of the fixtures in the fourth round of the League Cup sees a London derby between West Ham United and Chelsea.

As usual with two Premier League sides we can expect a fair amount of squad rotation.

West Ham United finally have the monkey off the back and managed to record a first league win at their new London Stadium at the weekend. This victory against lowly-Sunderland followed another impressive win over Crystal Palace during the previous weekends’ round of matches. After conceding an alarming 15 goals in five matches before their victory over London rivals Palace, West Ham manager Slaven Bilic will perhaps have been most pleased with the two consecutive clean sheets. The Hammers now look like they are finally capable of grinding out victories.

However, I do not expect Bilic to keep the faith in his starting XI for this League Cup tie simply because they see it as a lesser competition. For me this is bizarre. To break up a winning side is odd to begin with and I feel it is a real shame for West Ham to treat the League Cup with such disrespect. With so many of the bigger teams fielding weaker sides, it is a great opportunity for teams like West Ham to get to Wembley and have a real chance of winning a trophy.

Of course West Ham had already won at their new stadium before the weekend as they beat League Two Accrington Stanley in the League Cup back in September – although Stanley will feel they should have at least taken the game to extra time as a 96th minute Dmitri Payet free-kick left them defeated.

It is difficult to estimate the Hammers’ chances as a lot of it depends on the team Chelsea pick on Wednesday night. If the Blues weaken their team then West Ham have a good chance.

Having said that, when Chelsea pick a weakened side, it is hardly weakened as you still have the likes of Asmir Begovic in goal and Michy Batshuayi up front.

Antonio Conte’s men have already played two League Cup ties this season. Firstly disposing of League One Bristol Rovers before overcoming Premier League champions Leicester City thanks to an inspired performance from midfielder Cesc Fabregas in extra time. Although the League Cup is viewed as a lesser trophy by the likes of Chelsea, it would be a big boost for new manager Antonio Conte if he can get his first major trophy as Blues boss as early as February – hence why he picked a strong-looking team against Leicester in the last round. I would expect him to pick a similar side at the London Stadium.

In terms of betting, I would firstly go with ‘Cesc Fabregas to Score Anytime’ at 17/4. The Spanish international has played the entire of both matches in the League Cup this season and I would expect him to do the same here.

The former Barcelona midfielder has been somewhat shunned by manager Antonio Conte and so I expect him to come out with a decent display to show either his boss or other suitors that he has got what it takes. The Leicester match showed that he has what it takes to produce that little bit of magic and, with him going up against a rotated West Ham back-line, I expect him to put on another good showing here.

The other market to seriously look at here is ‘Over 3.5 Goals’ at 33/20. With Chelsea likely to field a strong team and West Ham likely to rotate, goals should certainly be on the cards. There have been more than three goals in both of Chelsea’s League Cup matches this season and this trend is likely to continue.

Although backing Chelsea to simply win this fixture offers little value, there is money to be made if we combine this with the total goals market. With this in mind, ‘Chelsea to Win & Over 1.5 Goals’, at 11/10, is another good bet here.

To see all of our tips for Wednesday’s matches click here.