PREMIER LEAGUE expert Daniel McCulloch (@danmcc84) delivers his best bets from Friday Night Football as West Ham host Brighton at the London Stadium.
West Ham v Brighton | Friday 20th October 2017, 20:00 | Sky Sports
Being frank, it is unlikely that there is must interest in this game outside of the south east of England. These two sides have scored just 14 goals between them so far this term and it’s hard to see an open, attacking game at the London Stadium on Friday night.
To be honest, I am astonished that Slaven Bilic is still West Ham’s manager as for more than a year it has felt like the Croat is one defeat away from losing his job. Given that his team have just eight points from their opening eight games, he is once again under the microscope.
Chris Hughton’s Brighton have the same points tally but after a tough start (they failed to score in their opening three fixtures) Seagulls fans seem generally satisfied with how their side has adapted to Premier League football.
As stated in a previous column, I believe that the reason Bilic is still in a job is his ability to win precisely this sort of game and I think they will eventually prevail here. West Ham’s only victories this season came at home to Swansea and Huddersfield who, like Brighton, are probably going to be at the wrong end of the table for most of the campaign.
The betting angles
Since the start of last season West Ham have won seven of their 22 home league games by a single goal ‘to nil’ and given the paucity of goals in Brighton’s matches this term, I would recommend the 11/2 William Hill are offering on the Hammers winning by a 1-0 scoreline.
The vast majority of Brighton’s Premier League matches have been tight affairs, with five of their matches failing to feature a first-half goal. Given that three of West Ham’s games have also been goalless at the interval, I like the look of a 0-0 half time score at 17/10 with BetVictor.
Finally, I also like the more conservative option of backing the East London side to win. That’s a best price of 17/20 with Betway.
Best Bets
West Ham v Brighton – West Ham to win (17/20 Betway)
West Ham v Brighton – West Ham to win 1-0 (11/2 William Hill)
West Ham v Brighton – 0-0 half time score (17/10 BetVictor)
