CHELSEA VS WEST HAM PREMIER LEAGUE BETTING TIPS

Chelsea bid to return to the top of the Premier League with a win over West Ham this Saturday but will have to do so without the services of their two first choice keepers. Portuguese goalkeeper Hilario had been deputising for the injured Petr Cech but a groin injury means that third choice keeper Ross Turnbull will now take up position between the sticks.

Two weekends ago Chelsea lost their near immaculate home league record after Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy tore their defence to pieces. They have since returned to winning ways by beating Stoke in the FA Cup last weekend but this derby fixture against the Hammers is an entirely different proposition. West Ham looked to be comfortably climbing away from the relegation zone with back to back wins over Birmingham then Hull but subsequent defeats to Manchester United and Bolton have put them back amid the mire. Gianfranco Zola’s men will be desperate to pick up anything from this game and the added spice of a London derby will add to the sense of occasion.
The reverse of this fixture ended 1-1 after penalties from Frank Lampard and Alessandro Diamanti were converted. A repeat of that score line is priced at 14.0 with Betfair today. However, what may be a more sensible bet is to back West Ham to get on the score sheet by betting on ‘No’ in Betfair’s ‘Chelsea Clean Sheet?’ market at odds of 2.2 (5/4). Given Chelsea’s defensive frailties of late and the introduction of a new unfamiliar goalkeeper I expect West Ham’s attacking style to create at least a few clear cut chances.
 That also suggests that backing Over 2.5 goals would be a wise move and even at 1.7 (5/7) it looks a bet not to ignore in this match. Frank Lampard looks to have rediscovered his goal scoring touch with three in his last two games and with Didier Drogba on the pitch you know that if chances are created he will take them. Those two are 3/1 and 9/2 respectively with Coral to be the first goal scorer of the game.
These are testing times for Chelsea but if they can return to the top of the table by beating West Ham here then there’s no reason why they can’t use that impetus to go on and galvanise their season.