Chelsea HT/FT looks a winner when West Ham visit the Bridge

West Ham may have been the first team to win at the Emirates, taken three points on the final day of the season at Old Trafford in 2007 to avoid relegation and triumphed at White Hart Lane already this campaign, but these upset wins are few and far between.

That 2006/07 season was the last instance of West Ham winning away at two clubs to finish in the top-half of the final standings and given the aforementioned victory at Tottenham, another upset has to be deemed unlikely at Chelsea.

Sam Allardyce has had a productive transfer window with Italian pair Antonio Nocerino and Marco Boriello arriving to help in their battle with relegation and both are in the squad to visit Chelsea.

However, these signings do little to enhance the appeal of a West Ham victory in this London derby, which is priced at 16/1.

The Hammers haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since doing the double over Chelsea in the 2002/03 season and have lost 13 of the 16 meetings between the pair since.

Another Chelsea victory here is priced at 1/5 and Jose Mourinho’s men have only dropped two league points at home all season.

They come into this derby on a seven-game winning streak in all competitions and it is interesting that they have netted at least twice in all 11 showdowns with teams currently in the bottom half this season.

Punters should scan all of the markets before placing such a bet though. In the Chelsea total goals market, it is 1/5 that the Blues score 2+. However, over 1.5 total goals for Chelsea in a different market is 2/9, even though they effectively mean the same thing.

The Chelsea victory and over 1.5 home goals are both tough to oppose, but neither are really attractive prices.

Therefore, it is the 4/7 on offer that Chelsea are leading at both half-time and full-time that may prove the most generous odds for the visit of West Ham.

After all, this bet would have landed in each of Chelsea’s last six home games, while West Ham haven’t managed a single first-half goal in their last five encounters with the Blues.