Brentford vs. West Ham Predictions: Side with Eriksen in the shots market

Brentford take on West Ham in one of four Premier League matches that take place on Sunday. Here at BettingOdds.com we’ve tasked @AnthonyEadson to provide us with his best bets for the action.

The Bees secured a memorable 4-1 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend which now puts them nine points clear of the relegation zone. One would imagine Thomas Frank would name an unchanged XI after that emphatic win over the Blues, however Josh Dasilva and Julian Jeanvier are the only confirmed absentees for the hosts. 

Aaron Cresswell was sent off after 45 minutes on Thursday evening in West Ham’s 1-1 draw in the Europa League with Lyon. David Moyes will have been happy with a point after playing half the game with 10 men, although he will want to improve their form on the road with it now being four straight losses away from the London Stadium. 

Manuel Lanzini has been back in training this week and should be available for this London Derby. Angelo Ogbonna remains sidelined and Ryan Fredericks may continue at right-back after starting the last two games. 

I’ve gone with a trio of tips for Sunday’s game in the capital, all of which centre around one player in Brentford’s Christian Eriksen. After the terrible events of last summer’s European Championships, it’s been magnificent to see the Dane now playing football at the highest level for club and country. 

Since arriving at Brentford, Eriksen has made four appearances and looks to be sharp and back to full fitness, putting in classy performances in wins against Norwich, Burnley and Chelsea in their last three matches. 

The first selection I’ve opted for is with bet365 who have priced Eriksen at 11/10 to have over 1.5 shots in the match. Considering he is a potential free-kick taker and a man who is known for his long range shooting, I feel this line is generous, with other firms such as Coral having this much shorter at 2/7. 

In each of his last two matches Eriksen has recorded two shots, with one of them hitting the target. His confidence should be high after some good performances and with West Ham having played 45 mins against Lyon with 10 men the other night, I think fatigue could be a factor for the visitors and I expect Brentford to create plenty of chances.

With West Ham losing four on the bounce away from home and having considerably less preparation time for this match also gives plenty of reason to believe Brentford can pick up a result here.

After scoring three goals in his last three matches for club and country, I’ll also be backing Christian to find the net anytime in the match. Again, bet365 are best priced here, with a boosted 17/2 on offer for the 30-year-old to get on the scoresheet. In comparison, Paddy Power are 23/10 on the same selection and after plenty of intent in the final-third in the last few weeks I’m happy to have him on board at this price of 17/2. 

To round off this trio, I’ll be having a tiny tickle on this 1000/1 poke with bet365 of Christian Eriksen & Jarrod Bowen to both score & be carded. West Ham have seen over 2.5 goals in their last three matches and with tired legs after the Europa League I can see goals here. 

It’s been a great season for Jarrod Bowen and he is the Hammers’ top scorer this season with 14 in all competitions from just 36 starts. In three of those games in which he has scored, he has also been carded and I’m taking a chance on that happening again versus Brentford. 

When looking back at Christian Eriksen’s data from the 2019/2020 season with Spurs, I was surprised to see he was booked in five of his 10 league starts. Furthermore, in two of those he also scored and was carded. After a booking against Norwich a couple of weeks back for Brentford I’m willing to take a chance on him picking up another here and also finding the net, with the smallest of stakes.