In this article…
West Ham v Chelsea
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Date: Sunday 20th August
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Competition: Premier League
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Kick off: 16:30
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Watch live: Sky Sports Main Event
West Ham host Chelsea at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon. This match tends to be a good one for bettors, full of cards, corners and goals. Despite Chelsea typically being viewed as the stronger side, they always seem to struggle playing away against the Hammers, only winning there once in the last eight seasons.
Both teams have injected fresh talent into their midfield this season, with the Hammers signing James Ward Prowse from Southampton and Edson Alvarez from Ajax, with Chelsea recently confirming Moisés Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. In total these four signings alone represent over £225 million in transfer deals, and promise to add a new dynamic to this match.
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West Ham stats: Corners are flying in against Moyes’ men
Despite managing a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth on the opening weekend of the Premier League, West Ham were statistically the weaker side. The Hammers had lower xG, possession, shots on target, and corners than the Cherries. They were also particularly sloppy when it came to possession, only having a 68% pass accuracy rate compared to Bournemouth’s 82%.
In terms of corners, West Ham were underwhelming. They only recorded four corners for but conceded ten. Bournemouth aren’t usually a team to get many corners either, averaging just 3.8 last season, the third-lowest out of all the Premier League teams. Although playing away from home, Chelsea are likely to capitalise on West Ham’s tendency to concede corners. The Blues managed an average of 5.5 corners last season, even though they were very weak overall in the league, compared to their usual standards.
Chelsea Stats: Chelsea looking to burst West Ham’s “bubbles”
Chelsea have spent more money in the transfer market since the summer of 2022 than Arsenal and Manchester United combined. With this sheer volume of spending, Chelsea have revamped their squad, bringing strength to all areas of the pitch. Nicolas Jackson looks to be nailed on as Chelsea’s out-and-out striker this season. In his debut against Liverpool the Senegalese international impressed, posting 0.55 xG and registering two shots on target. He is likely to be the danger man in front of goal on Sunday.
West Ham have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last ten outings, conceding an average of 1.8 goals across these games. Across the whole 2022/23 season West Ham’s opponents scored an average of 1.5 goals per game – taking 4.4 shots on target in the process. They also conceded in both games against Chelsea last year.
With such a high threat from Chelsea, and a poor defensive record from West Ham, Chelsea look likely candidates for the win.
West Ham v Chelsea Cheat Sheet
Our Cheat Sheets are invaluable tools to help you win bets.
For those unfamiliar, they are an in-depth sheet of stats that have been designed to give you a deeper understanding of the game ahead. From player bookings to average team shots on target, there is something for every bettor.
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🎯 West Ham Offensive Stats: The dead ball merchant could punish Chelsea
Arguably the best dead ball specialist in the Premier League, if not Europe, James Ward Prowse will be an exciting signing for West Ham. Taking corners, free kicks and penalties, the English midfielder offers lots of attacking threat in the form of both goals and assists. He took the second most corners of any Premier League player last season, even though Southampton ranked just 17th in terms of corners taken.
In terms of free kicks, a really interesting stat is that Ward-Prowse currently has the second most free kick goals in Premier League history. He is only one behind David Beckham’s all-time record, and now he is back in the Prem he will want to add to his tally and bag one against Chelsea.
Last time playing the Blues he did just that.
🎯 Chelsea Offensive Stats: Super Jack(son)
We have already discussed Jackson’s impressive debut against Liverpool, and how he could be a serious goal threat on Sunday. But let’s break his stats down even more and see just how good he could be in Chelsea’s new system.
Last season in La Liga, Jackson made his mark with an impressive tally of 16 goals contributions from 26 starts. His performance was highlighted by an average of over one shot on target per game, coupled with a notable 0.4 xG per match. Last week we mentioned how this was just shy of Marcus Rashford’s 0.42 xG and more than Ollie Watkins’ 0.39 xG. Here is a new basis for comparison: Heung-Min Son. The South Korean winger only has a career average in the Premier League of just 0.31 xG a game – despite being one of Spurs’ key assets.
With Reece James out, Chelsea are likely to adopt a 4-2-3-1 formation as they did in preseason, signalling a clear emphasis on Jackson’s importance as the lone striker.
🛑 West Ham Defensive Stats: West Ham look more likely to get stuck in
The Hammers picked up 1.2 yellows and committed 9.5 fouls per match last season. The latter stat significantly rises when isolating their most recent games. Just last weekend West Ham saw four yellow cards and 14 fouls committed. Lucas Paquetá was, as usual, the major culprit here, committing four fouls and getting booked in the process.
West Ham should have a tough job Sunday, especially in the wide areas. With the pace and technical ability of the likes of Raheem Sterling, Jackson, and Mykhaylo Mudryk, West Ham’s fullbacks are likely to commit fouls to halt a counterattack. Finally, the ref, John Brooks, averages over 23 fouls per game and over 3.7 bookings alongside that. He gave out three bookings in his first game of the season: Sheffield United v Crystal Palace.
🛑 Chelsea Defensive Stats: Chelsea’s attack committed lots of fouls last season
In this exact fixture last season, although he no longer plays at Chelsea, Kai Havertz committed five fouls. Now Jackson is in his place, he is a likely candidate to do the same.
The young striker showed plenty of passion in his debut game for Chelsea, bringing lots of energy onto the pitch. This saw him commit a foul early against Liverpool, ending the chance of a counter-attack. In his first away game for Chelsea, it is likely he will do the same.
At Villarreal last season, Jackson committed an average of over 1.5 fouls each game and collected a card nearly every four outings. This ranks second highest out of all Chelsea’s players, falling just short of Conor Gallagher’s 1.9 fouls per game.
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