West Ham United will lock horns with Premier League leaders Chelsea in an exciting London derby on Saturday.
Venue: London Stadium
Key statistics
- Chelsea won both the games in the Premier League last season against West Ham and they are looking to win three in a row for the first time since 2011.
- West Ham have won three of their last six home games in the Premier League against Chelsea ( D1 L2)
- The Blues have won all of their last seven London derbies away from home in the Premier League.
- West Ham are winless in their last three games in the league this season and sit fourth in the table. Meanwhile, Chelsea are at the top of the table with 33 points.
Head to Head record
Chelsea have the edge over London rivals West Ham in terms of head to head records, winning 52 times out of 116 games played between the two. The Hammers have 42 wins to their name.
Latest performances in all competitions.
West Ham: W L W L D
Chelsea: D W W D W
West Ham United
Despite a stellar start to the season, West Ham have stagnated at fourth place in the league table following a poor run of results in recent weeks – 2 defeats and 1 draw in their last three Premier League games.
Hammers could have found themselves at the top two of the table if they had managed to turn the results in their favour in recent weeks.
Nonetheless, they will look to get back on track when they host leaders Chelsea on Saturday. Having already beaten Liverpool at home, Hammer could look to inflict similar pain to their London rivals.
David Moyes has raised the bar at Hammers over the last two seasons and he has a well-rounded squad to beat Chelsea.
Hammers are coming on the back of a 1-1 draw against Brighton as Tomas Soucek’s early strike was cancelled out by Neal Maupay in the final minute of normal time.
Star striker Michail Antonio’s form has dipped in the last few games and he will have to step up in the London derby.
West Ham boast quality players all over the field and they will look to make a statement against Chelsea as they did with Jurgen Klopp’s side weeks ago.
Possible West Ham line-up
Lukasz Fabianski; Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell; Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice; Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals; Michail Antonio
Injured: Angelo Ogbonna
Doubtful: Aaron Creswell
Suspended: None
Chelsea
Chelsea have been in red hot form in the Premier League this season and are coming on the back of a 2-1 win against Watford.
The Blues are now locked in a three-way battle for the title with Manchester City and Liverpool, who are second and third in the table respectively.
The defending European champions will have to secure three points this Saturday in order to keep the pressure on Man City and the Reds.
Thomas Tuchel’s men have recorded 33 points after 13 games in the Premier League this season, with their only defeat coming against Pep Guardiola’s side.
The Blues must have watched what the Hammers did to Liverpool a few weeks ago and they will look to dodge a bullet in the derby.
Young defender Trevoh Chalobah could miss the clash due to hamstring problems, while Romelu Lukaku is expected to be in the starting eleven.
Possible Chelsea line-up
Edouard Mendy; Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger; Cesar Azpilicueta, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho, Marcos Alonso; Mason Mount, Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz
Injured: Mateo Kovacic, Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
West Ham 2 – 1 Chelsea
