West Ham United - AFC Bournemouth predictions

West Ham United will have to fight an uphill battle to win this match. They are the underdogs of the matchup – though AFC Bournemouth don’t have a huge advantage. Still, with the 2.54 odds on a home win, things may get a bit dicey.

The Cherries are heading into a difficult fight, but it’s far from hopeless. They may need to bring their best, but the match can go any way at this point. The odds of an away win are 2.88 right now, which means the favourites are far from clear.

West Ham’s previous away game against Sheffield United was an altogether dull affair as far as the result goes, though they shouldn’t be unhappy with the 2:2 draw. Neither side managed to pull ahead throughout the runtime, but West Ham’s opponents were widely considered the stronger team.

The Cherries faced Liverpool in the previous round as hosts. With most bookmakers online pricing a home win at 4.60, even the draw at half-time was somewhat surprising. The stalemate didn’t last, however, and Liverpool decisively won the game 0:4.

West Ham have been having issues defending lately, though it’s mostly affected their away games for now. They’ve recorded 5 concessions in the past 3 games as visitors.

A quick look at the visiting team’s recent history tells us a lot about their weaknesses. Specifically, we’re talking about the fact that they’ve allowed more than 5 goals over their 3 most recent Premier League outings.

All three outcomes are quite possible in this game, but The Hammers will want the 3 points to get closer to a Europa League qualification. They’ll need 5 points to do so, but there’s a lot of the season still left to be played.

With several tied games behind them, the teams will be looking to switch things up to get the upper hand. Several matches between West Ham and AFC Bournemouth ended in a draw this season alone, so it’s clear they’ll need to get creative – especially the hosts.

The visitors have to contend with several injuries. Adam Smith, Ryan Fredericks, Max Aarons, James Hill are the players that will be missing, which makes the The Cherries lineup somewhat weaker than usual. This is made far worse because they were considered undergods going in either way.

Our advice is to stay on the safe side and go for the Over 2.5 Goals market. It’s reliable, very probable, and available at odds of 1.67 if you use the 888Sport sportsbook.