West Ham host Brighton in the Premiership’s Friday evening kick-off this week and it represents a great chance for them to surge up the table. The Hammers suffered a very poor start to the season, but they have enjoyed a mini-renaissance in recent weeks and climbed to the giddy heights of 15th in the table after taking four points from their last two games. They can extend that positive run against a Brighton side going in the opposite direction and destined to battle relegation. The price available on a West Ham win looks really attractive at 1.88 with Sportsbetting.ag and 1.85 with Bet365 and various others.
Brighton have been poor on the road so far this season, losing three and drawing one of their four games, and they should struggle in London on Friday night. They defend doggedly but they really lack spark and pace going forwards and frequently find themselves outscored by the opposition. They did not invest heavily after winning promotion to the Premiership and it looks like turning into a long old season for the Seagulls. If they are to stay up they need results from games like this, but the form suggests they will find it difficult as they have scored just once away from home this season and conceded six.
The Hammers, meanwhile, have won two out of three home games and will fancy their chances of winning this one. Not so long ago, Slaven Bilic was the odds-on favourite to be the next manager to lose his job. But his West Ham side have enjoyed a great upturn in results of late and – despite Craig Shakespeare getting the axe at Leicester – he is now just third favourite in this market, with Everton’s Ronald Koeman well out in front. The West Ham revival began with a 2-0 win over Huddersfield and West Ham will feel confident of securing a similarly emphatic win over another newly promoted club of similar ability.
Next up West Ham drew away at West Brom, who were flying high in the table at the time, and then beat Bolton 3-0 in the league cup. They lost 3-2 against Tottenham, but there is no shame in that as Spurs are one of the best teams in the country and in fine form. West Ham then beat Swansea and drew with sixth-placed Burnley away, and suddenly things are looking a lot more positive for Hammers fans.
It is a strange choice for Friday’s live game as it is unlikely to get pulses racing among neutral fans. Both teams are in the bottom half of the table, there is no great rivalry between them and neither is a high-scoring or particularly attacking side. It should prove a slightly listless, low-scoring encounter, but it still looks attractive from a betting perspective and that is all that matters. Under 2.5 goals looks interesting at 1.70 with Betfair as Brighton have scored just six goals in eight games this season and West Ham have scored eight.
If you are interested in the goal scorer markets, Javier Hernandez looks a good option. Mexico’s all-time leading scorer is getting back into his stride in the Premiership and, in all honesty, he is far too good to be playing for West Ham. He was a revelation at Man Utd and bagged plenty of goals at Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, so the Hammers are lucky to have him and should make him the focal point of their attack. He was an injury concern, but Bilic has said he will play and he looks good at 5.50 with Bet365 and other green listed bookmakers to score first in this game.
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