These two sides have had very contrasting starts to their respective seasons with West Ham currently propping up the table down in 20th whilst newly-promoted Huddersfield Town are flying up in third.
West Ham’s poor start to the season has not helped manager Slaven Bilic: who was also under pressure at the back end of last season. Comments by the club’s owners have not helped the situation and they seem to be constantly undermining their manager. All of this looks like it could end badly for Bilic and possibly West Ham.
In terms of matters on the pitch, the Hammers have been atrocious in both boxes but particularly at the back where, despite the presence of England goalkeeper Joe Hart between the sticks, they have conceded 10 goals – the worst Goals Against record in the top flight. They have managed to at least score a couple of goals this term but their total of two in the Premier League is still incredibly poor.
Due to recent athletics events at the London Stadium, this is, in fact, West Ham’s first home match of the season. A lot was made of the Hammers’ poor form at their relatively new home last season, however, it is worth noting that they went on a three-match unbeaten run towards the end of the 2016/17 campaign – a keeping clean sheet in each of those three matches.
Huddersfield could not have wished for a better start to life in the Premier League with two wins and a draw putting them fourth in the table. However, there is still a long way to go and you can rest assured that there will be no complacency in the Huddersfield camp.
The most impressive part of the Terriers’ performances so far has been their solid defence, with three clean sheets kept in their trio of Premier League matches. Goals have also been coming thick and fast for Huddersfield with six scored in their four competitive matches so far this term.
David Wagner’s side have a 100% record on their travels so far this season, however, they have, of course, played just one competitive match. The fact that that victory this was a 3-0 win against a struggling Crystal Palace side will give Huddersfield confidence going into this game as they face another opponent with a similar confidence crisis.
Given West Ham’s atrocious defence and the generally poor atmosphere surrounding the club at the moment, I think Huddersfield will score a couple of goals here and so Huddersfield Town to Score Over 1.5 Goals looks very good value at 5/2.