West Ham v Chelsea: don’t expect entertainment in east London
Published:It was never going to be the easiest of introductions for Rafa Benitez at Chelsea and things could get even more tense as they travel to West Ham for his third game in charge.
A solitary goal would help quiet the boos from the Chelsea fans who are unwilling to embrace the apparently clueless La Liga and Champions League winning coach.
Goals are proving hard to come by for the Blues though (not least because they have the increasingly beleaguered Fernando Torres up top) and they have failed to score in each of their last three games.
Meanwhile, his opposite number and fellow facial hair aficionado (for Movember at least) is well on the way to establishing the Irons in the Premier League.
Relegation is the last thing on the minds of the east Lononders and they have now drifted out to 11/1 to head straight back to the Championship.
The Irons have stopped the relatively free-scoring Manchester City and Fulham finding the net at the Boleyn Ground this term and, of their seven visitors, only Arsenal have been able to find the net more than once.
Chelsea’s away defence isn’t too shabby either though, with the blues shipping an average of exactly one away goal in the league this term – and all bar one of those games came under the stewardship of the far more gung-ho Roberto Di Matteo.
Backing another stalemate for Benitez at 5/2 looks well worth consideration, as does under 2.5 goals at 5/6 is also tempting.
All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date
