Will the Vikings conquer Los Angeles?
Thursday is all about redemption – for both teams in our Los Angeles Chargers vs. Minnesota Vikings tip. The L.A. team lost quite clearly to the Colts last Sunday, and the Vikings suffered a bitter home defeat against the Eagles. Now it’s all about who can break the negative cycle at SoFi Stadium.
Some questions remain unanswered, primarily regarding injuries. For the Chargers, defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia had to leave the game against Indianapolis and will likely be out, but offensive tackle Joe Alt could finally return to action. All in all, however, the Chargers’ injury list is still one of the longest in the entire NFL.
It is not yet 100% clear who will start at quarterback for the Vikings. Although everything currently points to Carson Wentz playing again on Thursday, his recent performances have been so poor that an early return for J.J. McCarthy is still on the cards. However, we are definitely expecting Wentz to play, who is also unlikely to be as nervous against the Chargers as he was against his old team from Philadelphia.
We therefore expect a clear improvement in performance from Wentz and thus also from the entire Vikings team, which brings a prediction in favor of the away team into play for Chargers vs. Vikings. The Vikings are considered underdogs – a view we would not subscribe to based on the Chargers’ recent performances.
Kick-off for this Thursday Night matchup is at 2:15 a.m. on Friday morning in Los Angeles. The NFL Week 8 game will be broadcast live on the DAZN streaming service.
Los Angeles Chargers – Minnesota Vikings Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The Chargers won the last meeting between the two teams just under two years ago, 28-24. However, Minnesota won the last two games in LA. The head-to-head comparison is so evenly matched that we see the two teams’ chances of winning as equally balanced, which is why the Chargers’ status as favorites doesn’t quite make sense to us here.
That’s why the odds on Minnesota are slightly more playable in Chargers vs. Vikings. Even with a +3 handicap on the Vikings, we still get very acceptable odds.
To statistically back up our recommendation for Minnesota: The Vikings score 2.6 points more on average than the Chargers and concede 2.5 points less per game than LA. The fact that they have one fewer win in their division than the Chargers in theirs is solely due to their stronger opponents so far.
Los Angeles Chargers – Minnesota Vikings Tip
With only 184.0 passing yards allowed per game, the Vikings’ defense is particularly difficult to beat through the air. The downside for the Chargers is that this is precisely their strength – especially since starting running back Omarion Hampton will be out for several more weeks.
This is another point in Minnesota’s favor, which is why we recommend betting on the away team in Chargers vs. Vikings. However, as both teams have been struggling recently, we have chosen a player bet as our number 1 tip, namely on a touchdown by TJ Hockenson.
Why Hockenson? In McCarthy’s absence, the tight end has recently been one of quarterback Carson Wentz’s favorite targets. Against both the Browns and the Eagles, he caught a total of six passes and came close to a touchdown each time.
Since we expect Minnesota to put in a good offensive performance against the struggling Chargers (Indianapolis scored 38 points against LA, after all), there will be plenty of scoring opportunities again. Justin Jefferson is also an option here, but since the Chargers are significantly better odds against Hockenson, we decided to go with him.
