On Friday night in the Premier League, a struggling West Ham will take on their rivals from the capital, Brentford.
On Boxing Day, both teams scored first against a north London opponent after returning to the top division. David Moyes acknowledged that West Ham’s 1-0 lead over Arsenal at the break was “a little bit fortunate.” Within ten minutes of the half, the league’s top team equalised as expected, and they went on to easily win.
Thomas Frank praised Brentford’s performance, which saw them race into a well-deserved 2-0 lead against Tottenham but settle for a point after being outplayed after the break.
Team news wise…
For West Ham, Kurt Zouma is recovering from knee surgery earlier than expected, but Maxwel Cornet’s recovery experienced a setback during the World Cup.
The center-back Nayef Aguerd was a member of the Moroccan team that advanced to the semifinals but was unable to play against France due to a confluence of illness and injury. Aguerd didn’t play against Arsenal because he hadn’t played since Christmas Eve.
Gianluca Scamacca missed the Boxing Day loss to the Gunners due to an ankle injury that might prevent him from playing this Friday.
Meanwhile, many Brentford players are close to making their injury comebacks, but they might not experience the warmth of the Friday night lights this week. According to Frank, Aaron Hickey and Thomas Strakosha are on their way back from ankle issues, while Kristoffer Ajer (knee) is “really progressing.”
A late fitness test will be used to determine Frank Onyeka’s hamstring issue while Shandon Baptiste is recovering from an adductor strain.
With only two points separating West Ham and the bottom-dwelling Southampton, Moyes insists that he is “looking upwards” despite the Hammers’ precarious position in the standings. The Bees are comfortably seated in tenth place, so Moyes would consider Brentford when looking up.
Set pieces are without a doubt a major area of focus for both clubs lately. Brentford emphasised their threat from dead balls against Tottenham, but the only team in the division without a set-piece goal this year is West Ham (the Bees have shipped seven).
1×2 Betting Odds
Brentford was a team that West Ham lost to both at home and on the road in the previous campaign, but they might be able to contain their brash visitors this Friday and salvage a draw.
Playing in front of their London crowd, the Hammers are the favourites to win this one with odds @ 2.09.
While the other club from London, Brentford, are the underdogs in this with odds @ 3.78.
The possibility of a stalemates and points shared stands @ 3.70.
Total goals over/under
The odds that the total number of goals score will be over 2.5, stands @ 2.01.
While the odds that the total number of goals will be under 2.5, stands @ 1.95.
