West Ham v Liverpool: Hammers offer value in low-scoring game

West Ham v Liverpool
Saturday, 12:45
Live on BT Sport 1

West Ham

Following five consecutive draws - three of which were goalless - manager Slaven Bilic was understandably relieved to see his side come from behind to record their first win in two months against Southampton on Tuesday.

West Ham had become the Premier League's draw specialists but, with everyone else dropping points along the way, by not losing games the Hammers remain in genuine contention for a top-four berth just six points behind Spurs.

Andy Carroll's winner in the week was a timely boost, and with goals in general proving hard to come by the Hammers will be hoping that the big man can rediscover his best form and put a few big games together on the bounce. While the imminent return of Dmitri Payet, Winston Reid and Victor Moses gives the east Londoners a much more optimistic outlook on the immediate future as we begin 2016.

Liverpool

The Reds can be pleased to get back to winning ways following back-to-back wins against Leicester and Sunderland, but the manner of those performances, particularly against Sunderland, should significantly temper short-term expectations at Anfield.

As we also saw at Watford a couple of weeks ago, Jurgen Klopp still has a lot of work to do to turn Liverpool into genuine title contenders but in a wide-open Premier League a top four finish is still a realistic target.

Christian Benteke now has two in his last two appearances, although the one-on-one chance he missed at Sunderland on Wednesday didn't exactly inspire confidence to suggest that the Belgian can fill Daniel Sturridge's boots in the long-term.

Match Odds

In my midweek preview I was reluctant to back Liverpool to win at the Stadium of Light at odds of around 1.71, and although I was perhaps proved wrong on that one I saw nothing in that game that suggests to me that they should be such strong favourites (2.10) away to a good West Ham side.

Unlike Sunderland though, I am happy to take the generous odds of 4.00 on a West Ham win. With key players expected to return from injury - most notably Dmitri Payet - and a recent win under their belt, the Hammers are a huge value bet to take all three points on their home patch this weekend.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

If you're not entirely comfortable with value bets at longer odds, then the Under 2.5 selection at odds of 1.85 is another stonking value bet that you can take advantage of.

Five of West Ham's last six matches have had fewer than 2.5 goals and the Hammers have only once scored more than one goal in a game in their last nine fixtures. Liverpool have scored more than once in only one of their last seven Premier League outings, and four of their last six games have had fewer than 2.5 goals.

Two teams that haven't been scoring or conceding many of late makes Under 2.5 Goals at odds of 1.85 a standout bet.

Correct Score

This isn't a market that I tend to get involved with very often, but given all the reasoning I have laid out above I think it's worth having a few quid on the 1-0 correct score at odds of 12.00.

Recommended Bets

1pt Back West Ham to win @ 4.00
2pts Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 1.85