West Ham v Brentford: Bees to produce a few hammer blows to Moyes' men

• Both West Ham and Brentford are in poor form

• Bees have outstanding record against Hammers

• Maupay and Toney included in 6/17.00 Bet Builder

• Read Betfair's new 90 minute payout offer here

West Ham v Brentford
Monday, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports

Out of form teams looking for vital win

Football's a funny old game, as Jimmy Greaves regularly said. And it really is.

West Ham are eight places higher, and 13 points better off than they were after 25 games last season, yet David Moyes is coming under increasing pressure.

Brentford are six places lower and 13 points worse off than this time last season, but Thomas Frank is seemingly under no pressure at all.

In fact, by pure coincidence, West Ham went into this weekend's round of fixture ninth in the table, the exact same position Brentford were this time 12 months ago.

But it was so much better for the Hammers just a few months back. After a 2-0 win at Arsenal to end 2023, Moyes' men went into the new year sixth in the table, just four points behind reigning champions Manchester City.

However, a run of six league games without a win, including three defeats in their last three games, has seen the Hammers drop to mid-table, and they're now eight games without a win in all competitions after failing to beat Championship side Bristol City in any of their two FA Cup meetings.

Brentford's recent form is pretty similar, losing nine of their last 11 Premier League games as well as failing to win any of their two FA Cup meetings with Wolves.

Monday night's clash isn't exactly a must-win game for each side, but you sense both teams need it; West Ham and Moyes just to take a little heat off, and Brentford to avoid falling into a fight to avoid relegation.

Match Odds market a tough one to call

It's a tight call in the Match Odds market with West Ham the marginal favourites at 6/42.50, ahead of Brentford at 17/102.70 and the Draw at 5/23.50. On current form it's hard to argue with these prices.

In West Ham's favour is the fact that they are playing at home, a place where they've only suffered one surprising defeat this season, that being a 1-0 loss to Everton. Their only other defeats on home soil this term were against title chasers Man City and Arsenal.

In Brentford's favour is the fact that since they were promoted to the Premier League in 2021 they've faced the Hammers five times in the competition, and they've won all five, scoring at least two goals on each occasion.

So I'm happy to sit this market out as it's very easy to make a case for each of the three possible outcomes.

However, what I will say is that because I can't split these two very evenly-matched sides, and that the Draw odds of 5/23.50 is the biggest price of the three options, then it is well worth considering.

Bees to sting Hammers at least twice

Given that I'm far from confident about predicting the outcome of the game it may be a little surprising that I'm going to take a chance on Brentford scoring at least two goals.

If there's one pre-match stat the stands out then it's the one that tells us the Bees have won all five Premier League games against West Ham, scoring at least two goals in each game.

Brentford are also the only Premier League club Moyes has never recorded a victory against among the 43 that he has faced. That's some hoodoo for West Ham and their manager to overcome.

Frank's men beat West Ham 3-2 earlier in the season, and their two meetings at the London Stadium have resulted in 0-2 and 1-2 victories. In a game that could easily contain three or four goals I'm happy to back Brentford to score at least two of them at 6/52.20.

Add Maupay and Toney to 6/17.00 Bet Builder

If there's one club that Brentford striker Neal Maupay enjoys playing against then it's West Ham. The striker has scored in each of his four starts against the Hammers, and he can be backed at 23/103.30 to score at anytime on Monday night.

Ivan Toney has been in great form since his return from suspension, scoring four goals in his six games played. However, perhaps an equally impressive stat is that in those six games - four of which were against Liverpool, Tottenham and Man City twice - he's registered 20 shots.

The Bees striker can be backed at 7/52.40 to register at least two shots on target against the Hammers, and if you add that to the Maupay bet it pays out at exactly 6/17.00.

Now read more Football previews and tips here.