West Ham vs Sheffield United Odds
| West Ham Odds | -223 |
| Sheffield United Odds | +600 |
| Draw | +350 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 -150 / +120 |
The Blades will be heading to the London Stadium this Saturday as they look to bounce back from the 8-0 thrashing they suffered last weekend against Newcastle.
Sheffield United currently sit rock bottom of the Premier League with just one point so far and they are looking to grab their first win of the season. They will have the benefit of no mid-week game, allowing them to prepare for their trip to London.
West Ham do not have that luxury as they travelled to Lincoln for their third round Carabao Cup match. The Hammers currently sit seventh in the Premier League and have put together some pretty impressive results. Beating Chelsea and Brighton in consecutive weeks is something that not many sides are able to do, but West Ham were due to how well their transition offense has been so far.
Let's break my picks and preview for this Saturday morning match between Sheffield United and West Ham.
West Ham
The Hammers have been a surprise in the Premier League so far this season. Having won three of their first six matches, West Ham are surely not going to flirt with relegation again this season. But when you look at the numbers, they are actually not too encouraging at all.
West Ham have the second-highest xGA in the league and are outside of the top 10 in xG. These are disappointing numbers for a side that has the personnel to potentially contend for a European spot again this season.
David Moyes likes to play a low-block and play a quick transition offense. This has been extremely effective so far this season against the building, possession-based teams, but the Hammers have struggled when it comes to trying to build themselves.
Having played a competitive match against Luton and then struggling to break down Lincoln in the Carabao Cup, it is evident that Moyes prefers letting the opposition have possession and breaking quick with players like Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Said Benrahma.
The most likely midfield pairing for this fixture is James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez. Ward-Prowse is an extremely creative player that could shine even more from being able to build in a possession-based attack, but we are yet to find out how conservative Moyes will be with his lineup given that West Ham play Freiburg in the Europa League on Thursday.
Sheffield United
Prior to the thrashing against Newcastle last weekend, Sheffield United hadn't been bad defensively in their return to the Premier League. In their first five matches they had only given up nine goals. For a newly promoted side that is not bad at all.
The problem with this side is that apart from the Newcastle match, they have not been underperforming at all. In fact they had been over-performing quite a bit and deserved to lose the matches they did. They were even outplayed in their 2-2 draw against Everton.
They have played a tough schedule for a promoted side, having played City, Spurs and Newcastle already. Those are three of the most talented sides in England, and to play well defensively shows that they are an organized side with some experienced defenders.
They are still waiting on a few people to return from injury – most notably Rhian Brewster and John Fleck. Both of these players are certain to give a much needed boost to this side.
West Ham vs Sheffield United
Pick & Prediction
West Ham have massively over-performed their xG and xGA so far this season. They are due for some regression, outscoring their xG by 2.0 and giving up 3.3 less goals than expected so far this season. This is not sustainable over a full year and with the defensive quality that Sheffield United have shown this season and in the Championship last season, I will be taking a position on them in this match.
I see a ton of value on the Blades +1.25 at -117 in this fixture as I think it will be a low scoring affair and West Ham may already be thinking about their European night on Thursday.
