WIMBLEDON welcome West Ham to Kingsmeadow for a League Cup second round clash live on Sky Sports. Gaurav Chaddah (@Gchaddahjourno) picks out his best bets.
Wimbledon v West Ham | Tuesday 28th August 2018, 19:45 | Sky Sports
The second round of the League Cup takes centre stage this week and the Sky cameras are at Wimbledon as the League One club welcome West Ham to the Kingsmeadow.
Despite heavily investing in the summer, the Hammers are still without a point so far this season although there was plenty of positives to take during there 3-1 loss at Arsenal.
Wimbledon have collected two triumphs this term, with a first round success in the League Cup, as well as a solitary victory in the league point thus far.
Wimbledon
It’s been a difficult start to the season for Neil Ardley’s men who’s only league victory came on the opening day of the season against Fleetwood (1-0).
A goalless draw with Coventry was followed by an encouraging 0-0 draw at Barnsley. However, that’s been followed by two successive defeats to Walsall and then on Saturday against Sunderland, a game in which they led for nearly an hour.
It is the first time since getting into the Football League have Wimbledon reached the second round stage of the competition and whilst they’ll be massive underdogs, it’s sure to say the Kingsmeadow will be bouncing as they welcome Premier League opposition.
West Ham
It was a busy summer at West Ham which saw new manager Manuel Pellegrini bring in no fewer than 11 players, costing an estimated £100 million.
The Hammers have lost all three games so far this season however and early pressure on Pellegrini might rise if he fails to win here. In West Ham’s defence, two of the defeats have came away at Liverpool and then Arsenal, however a 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth would have left Irons fans worried.
A new manager and new signings will naturally take time to gel however and there was plenty to like about the performance at Arsenal on Saturday, albeit it ended in defeat.
The betting angle
West Ham, as expected, are very short priced favourites and I can’t really see beyond them to progress here.
The Hammers are expected to make changes but whatever team they field you would think they’ll be too strong for the League One club, who themselves may make changes with games coming thick and fast in the third-tier.
Whilst West Ham are too short outright, they should get the job done here quite comfortably but there is no doubting that the first three games have highlighted severe problems in the visitors’ defence and it would be no surprise to see Wimbledon get on the scoresheet.
With a generous 13/5 on offer from Betfair, West Ham to win and both teams to score seems a sensible option.
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Wimbledon v West Ham – West Ham to win and Both Teams To Score (13/5 Betfair)
