West Ham vs Chelsea 20/08/23 Tips:
West Ham and Chelsea lock horns at the London Stadium as both look to bag their first win of the new Premier League season.
Date, KO time and TV coverage
Premier League, Sunday, August 20, Kick-off 4:30pm, live on Sky Sports
Predicted score
West Ham 1-2 Chelsea
Premier League betting tips
Bet: Chelsea to win
Bet: Both teams to score
West Ham vs Chelsea team news
While West Ham have a fully fit squad at their disposal, the same cannot be said about Chelsea.
The Blues are without Christopher Nkunku, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Armando Broja and Marcus Bettinelli.
There are also doubts over Reece James and Benoit Badiashile.
West Ham vs Chelsea betting preview
West Ham were just a few minutes away from picking up an opening day win against Bournemouth, only to concede a late equaliser away at the Vitality Stadium.
The Irons are still adapting to life without Declan Rice, though at least they’ve been able to break ground in the transfer market over the last couple of weeks – most prominently with the signing of James Ward-Prowse.
Chelsea, on the other hand, put on a strong display as they draw 1-1 with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
Mauricio Pochettino is still in the early stages of his re-build at the club, though the early signs are certainly promising.
One area in which Chelsea will need to improve is picking up points away from home. Last term, the Blues picked up just five wins from 19 games on the road – a shocking stat for a side who recently lifted the Champions League trophy.
West Ham have enjoyed a strong home record against Chelsea since moving to the London Stadium. The Irons have won four and lost two of their last eight against the Blues at the former Olympic ground.
Previous five meetings between David Moyes and Pochettino have all produced less than 2.5 total goals, with an average of 0.8 per game.
Despite this, we are expecting a far livelier affair this weekend in the English capital.
Jarrod Bowen, who helped West Ham to the Europa Conference League crown just a couple of months earlier, is already up and running in the Premier League after bagging a goal against Bournemouth.
Chelsea, meanwhile, created a number of goal scoring opportunities against Liverpool and are slowly beginning to find their groove.
With that in mind, our recommendation is to back both teams to score. However, with Chelsea enjoying another big summer of transfer investments, we’re backing the Blues to edge a narrow victory.
