It’s almost impossible to look at West Ham’s forthcoming Premier League campaign and come up with a forecast which doesn’t involve doom and gloom.
Opening the season against a newly promoted club should be a boost but facing Sunderland at a packed, fervent Stadium of Light with home fans ramped up for a flying start won’t be for the faint-hearted.
The Hammers won just twice in their last 11 games last term, beating Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford and Ipswich 3-1 at Portman Road, so the pressure is already on manager Graham Potter to make a positive start.
He insists he can reset the club without buying heavily and the East End outfit, who are too reliant on the wonderful Jarrod Bowen, have not been the busiest in the summer transfer market.
It means a lot needs to go right if they are to avoid a long season flirting with the drop zone and a couple of defeats against opponents considered to be relegation fodder will leave the Irons manager feeling the heat.
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Next week’s home opener under the Friday night lights against Chelsea looks scary and is followed by a tricky trip to Nottingham Forest, two more London derbies against Tottenham and Crystal Palace, then a couple of away days against Everton and Arsenal. Yikes!
Even the most fervent Hammers fan will acknowledge Potter will need to have gained seven or eight points to keep the critics from sharpening their knives and that looks a tall order.
Sunderland are to 23/10 with Sporting Index and SpreadEx to gain maximum points this weekend but the Black Cats +1 goal at 4/6 with BoyleSports is the better option as it takes out the draw.
The Wearsiders are 12/1 with bet365 to win 2-1, Wilson Isidor is 29/10 with Unibet and BetMGM to score for the home side at any time while former Newcastle striker Callum Wilson is 47/20 with the same firms to celebrate a goal against his old neighbours.
The poor start won’t bode well for Potter and he’s worth a dabble at StarSports’ 12/1 to be the first manager to leave his post this season.
West Ham are 11/2 with Betfred, BoyleSports, Bresbet, BetMGM, Betway and Paddy Power to be relegated and that’s sorely tempting and not without a chance of coming in while 1/3 with BoyleSports for the Irons to finish in the bottom half is one for big-hitters to hammer into.
Golf odds
One bad round at last week’s St Jude Championship ended Matt Fitzpatrick’s run of four straight top-ten finishes as he finished tied for 32nd place.
It shouldn’t be overlooked, however, that he was under par in his other three days’ work in the first outing in this year’s FedExCup postseason series and is still each-way value at 28/1 with BoyleSports and bet365.
Ben Griffin at 25/1, last week’s winner Justin Rose at 40/1 and in-form Kurt Kitayama at 30/1 are our other three each-ways for this week’s BMW Championship at Caves Valley in Maryland.
Football League bet
Stoke, Birmingham, Stockport, Huddersfield and Chesterfield form Saturday’s Football League accumulator.