Jake Pearson previews Crystal Palace's trip to West Ham, picking out his best bet and a score prediction.
Football betting tips: Premier League
1pt Both Teams To Score at evens (MansionBet)
Last season was an unqualified success for West Ham United, earning a place in the Europa League via a sixth-place finish in the Premier League.
Two games into the new campaign however, and Hammers fans are dreaming of an even better season this time around, sitting top of the league after wins over Newcastle and Leicester, scoring four goals in each game.
David Moyes’ side did show signs of vulnerability against Newcastle on the opening weekend of the season, getting caught twice in the first half as the Magpies took a 2-1 lead into the break but the Hammers turned on the afterburners in the second period to blow away Steve Bruce’s men.
Ayoze Perez’ first-half red card for Leicester undoubtedly gave West Ham a helping hand in their 4-1 victory over the Foxes, but again Moyes’ team were impressive in attack, eventually running out comfortable winners thanks to three more second-half goals.
Kick-off time: 15:00 BST, Saturday
West Ham 8/15 | Draw 16/5 | C Palace 5/1
Crystal Palace it would seem, are in for a tough game.
Patrick Vieira’s men are yet to score a goal this season, through three matches, and in all honesty, they haven’t really looked like doing so, creating an average of just 0.48 expected goals for (xGF) in their two league matches.
It is unfair to judge Palace solely on those performances however, with a host of new players and a new manager all still trying to gel.
An opening fixture against Chelsea was far from the ideal start for Vieira, but a 3-0 defeat to the European champions is hardly unheard of, and in fairness to Palace, they produced a much better performance against Brentford than Arsenal did.
There is not a lot of evidence to suggest that Palace will score against West Ham, but they certainly have enough quality in their ranks to trouble a defence that are yet to keep a clean sheet this season.
Palace are around the 8/13 mark to find the net in this match, which suggests the bookmakers think the Eagles are certainly capable of scoring against a West Ham side that managed fewer shutouts than any other team in the top half of the table last season, while a price of 1/8 for Moyes’ men to get on the scoresheet speaks for itself.
A straight double with those two prices pays around 4/5, meaning even money about BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE represents value.
Only games involving Manchester United saw both teams score more than games involving West Ham, and evens for any Hammers match to see BTTS land is arguably generous.
West Ham v Crystal Palace best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Both Teams To Score at evens (MansionBet)
Score prediction: West Ham 3-1 Crystal Palace (Sky Bet odds: 11/1)
Odds correct at 1630 BST (26/08/21)
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