West Ham v Bournemouth: Count on 17/2 Kudus

• Mohammed Kudus has been prolific this season

• Kudus value to score anytime 11/43.75 and first 17/29.50

• Read Betfair's new 90 Minute Payout offer here

West Ham v Bournemouth
Thursday February 01, 19:30
Live on TNT Sports 2

Hammers causing split in opinion

West Ham are having a great season, right? They're sixth in the Premier League, a place ahead of much-lauded Brighton and also in front of big guns Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle.

But an alternative narrative seems to be just as loud. David Moyes' time is up, they've suffered a humiliating FA Cup exit at Championship side Bristol City and have gone through January with no win in four games.

It's a curious contrast so where does the truth lie? The moaners had more fuel after the Hammers drew 2-2 at bottom club Sheffield United and yet they were seconds away from a good win before the Blades got out of jail with a dubious penalty.

The FA Cup rather masks West Ham's recent form and had they beaten Sheffield United, Moyes' men would have taken 13 points from the last 15.

But just when you might be thinking criticism is harsh, when looking at West Ham's expected xG for and against, they should have 24 points not 35.

Bournemouth looking to bounce back

Against all the odds, Bournemouth were the Premier League's form team going into their home game with Liverpool on January 21.

They'd taken more points from the previous eight games than any other team, racking up six wins and a draw, claiming victories over Newcastle and Manchester United in the process.

But Liverpool turned them over 4-0 at the Vitality and that followed a 3-1 loss at Spurs. It means Bournemouth go into this one after back-to-back Premier League defeats, although spirits are still high after two goal-laden FA Cup wins: a 3-2 victory at QPR between those two PL losses and a 5-0 home romp over Swansea last Thursday.

Sitting 12th in the table, the Cherries are progressing nicely and they also have a game in hand after their match at Luton was abandoned.

Hosts have head-to-head edge

It's easy to argue this one either way but, forgetting perception and concentrating on actual numbers, here's a very pro-West Ham stat: going into this midweek round of matches, only Liverpool (24) had collected more points over the last 10 top-flight games than the Hammers.

Recent head-to-heads also favour West Ham as they've won three of their last four against Bournemouth. At the London Stadium, the Hammers won this fixture 2-0 last season and 4-0 in the campaign before that.

West Ham are 2.546/4 on the Betfair Exchange to secure another win, with Bournemouth a fairly close-up 2.915/8. The Draw is the outsider at 3.7511/4 and it's worth bearing in mind that the two played out a 1-1 stalemate down on the south coast back in August.

That was a game which saw the two sides' respective top scorers set the tone for what has followed. Jarrod Bowen put West Ham in front before Dominic Solanke nicked an equaliser eight minutes from time.

Solanke is now tied third in the Premier League Golden Boot charts with 12, one ahead of Bowen. An anytime scorer double on the duo pays 6/17.00 on the Bet Builder.

Kudus can make a mark

One big boost for West Ham is that summer signing Mohammed Kudus is back early from the Africa Cup of Nations following Ghana's exit.

Kudus kept his hot form going with a brace in a 2-2 draw with Egypt in the group stage.

That's now six goals in his last seven games for club and country. And when adding in those he netted for Ajax before he made the move to West Ham, Kudus has banged in 17 goals in 34 matches.

Given that one-in-two strike-rate, it's a welcome surprise to see him at 11/43.75 to score anytime especially when adding in another filter and noting that he's fired home five times in his last four home games.

It's tempting to pad out the price by adding in a home win on the Bet Builder: Kudus anytime combined with a West Ham victory pays not far short of 5/16.00.

But Bournemouth shouldn't be written off and prefence is to split stakes and also have a punt on Kudus scoring first. That makes sense as he's netted the opener in three of his last four home games for West Ham.

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