English Premier League is BACK! Chelsea vs West Ham United Aug 15th
There’s just one London derby on the opening weekend of the 2016/17 English Premier League season and that takes place at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea will be hosting West Ham United. The game wraps up the first round of the new campaign as it takes place this Monday, August 15th. Chelsea has a lot to prove this season after a brutal year in 2015/16 as they failed to retain their league title from the previous campaign. Antonio Conte has been hired as their new manager to help the club get back on track.
Chelsea vs West Ham United – Pinnacle Soccer Betting Line:
- Pinnacle currently lists Chelsea as the favorite to win the game at -153 with West Ham +489 and a draw at +307
Chelsea vs West Ham United – Head to Head:
The two sides met twice in league action last season with West Ham winning 2-1 at home in October and the teams playing to a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in March. The clubs have met 105 times in the past with Chelsea winning 47, losing 38 and drawing the other 20. West Ham has won just two of the last 21 meetings and five of the past 32.
Chelsea FC – A Closer Look:
Chelsea entered the 2015/16 Premier League as reigning champions, but finished in just 10th place with 50 points from 12 wins, 14 draws and 12 losses. They scored 59 goals and allowed 53 against. The club has a new manager this year in Antonio Conte of Italy and he was busy in the current transfer window by signing Michy Batshuayi from Marseille and N’Golo Kante from Leicester City. In addition, Nathan Ake has been sent out on loan to Bournemouth and Mohamed Salah signed with Roma of Italy. Conte may not be done yet as he’s still on the hunt for a top striker.
Chelsea had a mixed preseason as they lost 2-0 to Rapid Vienna of Austria and 3-2 to European champions Real Madrid of Spain. However, they managed to beat Austrian side Wolfsberger 3-0 as well as fellow Premier League club Liverpool 1-0, Milan of Italy 3-1 and Germany’s Werder Bremen 4-2. Chelsea is expected to be without defender Kurt Zouma until October due to recent knee surgery while fellow defender and team captain John Terry is questionable for Monday’s match.
West Ham United – A Closer Look:
West Ham had a good 2015/16 season under manager Slava Bilic and finished the campaign in seventh place, which allowed them to enter the Europa League qualifying playoffs. West Ham finished the season with 62 points from 16 wins, 14 draws and just eight losses with 65 goals scored and 51 conceded. Bilic made several moves during the summer transfer window by acquiring Toni Martinez from Valencia, Havard Nordtveit from Borussia Moenchengladbach, Sofiane Feghouli from Valencia, Gokhan Tore from Besiktas, Ashley Fletcher from Manchester United, Arthur Masuaku from Olympiakos, and Andre Ayew from Swansea City. Players that left the club during the offseason were Joey O’Brien, Elliot Lee and James Tomkins.
West Ham has some injury problems to deal with as forwards Diafra Sakho and Dimitri Payet are both doubtful for the game against Chelsea. Midfielder Gokhan Tore is also questionable while midfielder Manuel Lanzini and defender Aaron Cresswell are both expected to miss the first few weeks of the new season because of injuries. West Ham kicked off their preseason schedule with a 3-0 defeat to the Seattle Sounders and then drew both the Carolina RailHawks and FC Slovacko 2-2. They also lost 3-0 to Rubin Kazan. However, they beat Karlsruher SC 3-0. They lost 2-1 on the road against NK Domzale in their Europa League qualifying playoffs, but won 3-0 home to advance. Their last game was a 3-2 defeat to Italian champions Juventus.
Chelsea vs West Ham United – Takeaway:
This is a good test for both London teams as West Ham wants to prove last season wasn’t a fluke while Chelsea wants to prove their disappointing campaign was a fluke.
Click here to read our Pinnacle review.
by Ian S. Palmer