Cheltenham Town will be looking to cause one of the biggest upsets of the week as they take on Premier League club West Ham United, with a place in the third round of the EFL Cup up for grabs.
Football League Cup Second round – Whaddon Road, Cheltenham – Wednesday 23rd August – 19:45 (United Kingdom Time)
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Draw Best Odd of: 4 at Betfred |
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Cheltenham Town
West Ham UnitedCheltenham Town Team News
League Two side Cheltenham Town suffered a 3-0 defeat at Carlisle on Saturday, their second defeat in their three opening matches this season. Having narrowly avoided relegation last season, manager Gary Johnson faces a battle to maintain his clubs football league status this time around also, with the former Bristol City boss hoping an EFL Cup tie against the Hammers can potentially kick-start their campaign.
If Cheltenham are to have any hope of causing an upset on Wednesday, strikers Daniel Wright and Dan Holman are their many hopes, with the duo having scored over 50 goals for the club between them.
West Ham United Team News
West Ham have endured a disappointing start to the new Premier League campaign, losing their opening two encounters to Manchester United and Southampton respectively. As a result, Slaven Bilic is under increasing pressure to deliver, starting in Cheltenham on Wednesday evening.
Striker Javier Hernandez found the back of the net twice against Southampton at the weekend, however the Mexican star is unlikely to feature Whaddon Road, with Bilic set to make numerous changes to his starting line-up. Fellow newcomer Marco Arnautovic is ruled out through suspension following his red card at St Mary’s, with the likes of Sam Byram, Diafra Sakho and Arthur Masuaku all looking for rare starts.
Meanwhile, Spanish goalkeeper Adrian could well return in between the sticks, with Joe Hart having conceded seven goals in two games.
Head to Head
Cheltenham Town and West Ham United last faced-off against each other back in 2013, when the Hammers overcame the West country side by two goals to one at Upton Park in the English League Cup. Having not played each other since that day, there is little to go on when it comes to head-to-head meetings between the two clubs.
Betting Odds and Predictions
West Ham are the overwhelming favourites to make it through to the next round despite their poor start to the campaign, with bookmakers Ladbrokes offering the Hammers odds of 4/9 to win in 90 minutes. However, for those predicting that West Ham make hard work of qualifying, the same platform also offers odds on West Ham winning by any means, whether it be via extra time or penalties. This market is available at 2/11, while the League Two team can be backed to qualify at odds of 7/2.
Meanwhile, both sides have produced a hatful of goals from their opening games this season, making total goal markets even more attractive than usual. Customers at William Hill can back their being over 2.5 goals in the game, at appealing odds of 3/5. With Javier Hernandez set for a place on the bench, backing either Andre Ayew or Diafra Sakho to open the scoring on Wednesday could be fruitful, with the duo both backed at 5/1 at Ladbrokes.
Top Betting Tip
Our top betting tip for the match is to back both teams to score, which can be found at best odds of 3/4 at Ladbrokes.