Chelsea vs West Ham United – Preview, H2H, Line-ups, Prediction | EPL 2022-23

Mason Mount of Chelsea against Norwich
Mason Mount of Chelsea against Norwich

Chelsea will look to get back to winning ways this Saturday when they welcome West Ham United to Stamford Bridge for the 53rd edition of the West London derby between both teams in the Premier League era. 

Venue: Stamford Bridge (London)

Key Statistics

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last six league games at home (W3, D3).

The Blues have lost just one of their last 16 league games played against West Ham at Stamford Bridge (W10, D7).

They have kept one clean sheet in their last seven league games.

West Ham have won their last two competitive away games, keeping two clean sheets.

They have lost just one of their last five games in all competitions (W3, D1).

The Hammers failed to score in three of their five league matches this season.

Head to head

In 52 Premier League meetings between both sides, Chelsea have 28 wins while West Ham have 15 wins.   

Latest performances in all competitions

Chelsea: L-W-L-D-W

West Ham: D-W-W-L-W

Chelsea

With two wins in their opening five games, Chelsea have not made their dream start under Tuchel in what will be his second full season in the dug-out. The Blues have picked up two wins, one draw and two losses from their opening five league games; the latest being a midweek away loss to Southampton (2-1). 

The manner of the loss to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men would be a major concern for Thomas Tuchel, in what has become a repetitive pattern. The game was the third time the opposite team had created more chances than his side in their last three games, despite his team enjoying the lion’s share of the possession in all three games. 

However, despite their loss to Southampton, Chelsea remains favourites to get all three points against a West Ham team who are yet to hit their stride. 

The Stamford Bridge side have been in the hunt for a goal scorer in the transfer market, having lost the likes of Timo Werner, Romelu Lukaku and Hudson-Odoi. Thomas Tuchel finds himself without options up front to compete with the misfiring duo of Kai Havertz and Mason Mount, and with the absence of Kante due to injury the German tactician will have to find a way to get his Champions League-winning team to click and get all three points against David Moyes’ team.

Possible Chelsea starting line-up

Edouard Mendy; Reece James, Kalidou Koulibaly, Thiago Silva, Marc Cucurella; Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic; Mason Mount, Raheem Sterling; Kai Havertz.

Injured: N’Golo Kante

Doubtful: Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Unavailable: Marcos Alonso

Suspended: None 

West Ham United

West Ham put in a terrific display at home against Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur, with the visitors needing veteran shot-stopper Hugo Lloris to make big saves to deny them maximum points for the night. 

After going down one nil in the first half Courtesy of an own goal by Thilo Kehrer, the Hammers rallied together to produce a better display in the second half, grabbing a much-deserved equaliser through Tomas Soucek. David Moyes will probably have gone to bed with the feeling that with better finishing next time and a bit of luck, his team would have taken maximum points off Conte’s men.

With three losses in their opening three games, West Ham have not made the best of starts to the new season. But with four points in their last two games, the morale in the London Stadium dressing room would have improved.

With two wins in their last five meetings with the Blues, David Moyes is no stranger to this derby and will be counting on his boys to do better than they did against Tottenham Hotspur. With Chelsea not enjoying the best defensive run at the moment, the Scotsman will be hoping that his side can convert their chances as they come. With their last five games producing a total of eight goals scored, they will fancy their chances of scoring against a Chelsea backline that has conceded six times in their last three league games. 

Possible West Ham starting line-up

Lukasz Fabianski; Vladimir Coufal, Thilo Kehrer, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell; Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice; Pablo Fornals, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen; Michail Antonio.

Injured: Naif Aguerd

Doubtful: Craig Dawson, Benjamin Johnson

Suspended: None 

Prediction

Chelsea 1-1 West Ham