12th Dec 2015 | Premier League
Cheikhou With The Value
With injuries to attacking personnel, West Ham will have to find goals from other sources.
Scouting through this weekend’s prices there is one match where the bookmakers have underestimated the number of goals and that is West Ham v Stoke.
Under the management of Mark Hughes, Stoke have evolved into a more progressive team with flair players Marko Arnautovic, Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan getting plenty of game time.
As for West Ham, goals have been going in at both ends, in line with expectations. The Hammers rank 9th in expected goals for and 17th in expected goals against but shorn of Sakho, Valencia, Moses, Payet and Lanzini goals are going to have to come from different sources this weekend.
Cheikhou Kouyaté has been one of the mainstays of the team this season but he’s also chipped in with three goals. The Senegal midfielder is averaging 1.2 shots per90 with 0.9 coming from inside the penalty area.
His shot volume is low but his expected goals per game (assuming he plays the full 90 minutes) is 0.16. That doesn’t sound like a lot but it’s enough to make him good value in the anytime goalscorer market at 7/1 (Coral).
Odds correct at time of publishing: 03:04 12th Dec, 2015 but subject to change
