Seeking to win their third successive Premier League away game, Chelsea travel to the London Stadium to face West Ham United on Saturday lunchtime.
The two teams last butted heads just four months ago when the West Londoners cruised to a 5-0 victory over the Hammers at Stamford Bridge.
Match preview
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West Ham went into the international break following a mixed start to the new season, picking up just three points from a possible nine available in the Premier League as well as edging past Bournemouth in the EFL Cup.
The Hammers returned to action last weekend when they rescued a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham, with substitute Danny Ings netting a dramatic 95th-minute equaliser – West Ham’s sixth-latest Premier League goal on record (since 2006-07) – to cancel out a first-half strike from Raul Jimenez.
Julen Lopetegui stated after the match that he was “happy with the commitment” shown by his players to fight back and salvage a point, but he has insisted that his new-look side “have a lot of work to do” in the coming weeks and months if they wish to climb the table.
Currently sitting 14th in the Premier League with four points, West Ham enter Saturday’s contest with Chelsea seeking to avoid losing each of their first three home games in a single season for the first time, having already suffered defeats to Aston Villa (1-2) and Manchester City (1-3) this term.
The Hammers have alternated between winning (five) and not winning (D2 L3) in their last 10 top-flight encounters with Chelsea, with seven points accumulated from their last three meetings at the London Stadium (W2 D1), including three collected in a 3-1 home victory in August of last season.
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Amidst reports of off-field civil war between Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, Enzo Maresca has portrayed a relaxed manner in the dugout in the early stages as head coach of the Blues, steering his side to seven points in their opening four Premier League matches.
Chelsea are yet to celebrate top-flight success at Stamford Bridge this term, most recently drawing 1-1 with Crystal Palace before the international break, but they have impressed on the road with back-to-back victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bournemouth.
After putting Wolves to the sword 6-2 in August, Chelsea left it late to claim maximum points in a slender 1-0 win over Bournemouth last weekend, with substitute Christopher Nkunku netting an 86th-minute winner at the Vitality Stadium.
Chelsea are now preparing for five fixtures across three different competitions over a 16-day period, with Saturday’s clash away against West Ham followed by four successive home matches against Barrow (EFL Cup), Brighton & Hove Albion, Gent (Europa Conference League) and Nottingham Forest.
The Blues may have lost at the London Stadium last season, but they will still be confident of success against West Ham this weekend, as they have beaten the Hammers 30 times in 56 previous Premier League meetings, only winning more times against Tottenham Hotspur (35) in the division’s history.
West Ham United Premier League form:
West Ham United form (all competitions):
Chelsea Premier League form:
Chelsea form (all competitions):
Team News
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West Ham duo Emerson Palmieri (thigh) and Niclas Fullkrug (Achilles) are both doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff. Either Aaron Cresswell or Aaron Wan-Bissaka could start at left-back if ex-Chelsea man Emerson is not deemed fit to feature.
Michail Antonio, who was taken off at half time against Fulham, has endured a poor start to the new season and has struggled to make the desired impact in front of goal, so Lopetegui may consider handing either Ings or Jarrod Bowen a start as the central striker this weekend.
Bowen’s potential inclusion as a striker could see Mohammed Kudus move over to the right flank and Crysencio Summerville handed his first Premier League start as a Hammer on the left, while Lucas Paqueta could also be recalled to operate as a number 10 at the expense of Tomas Soucek.
As for Chelsea, Reece James remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, while Saturday’s game will also come too soon for Malo Gusto (thigh), so Axel Disasi is set to continue at right-back.
Romeo Lavia (hamstring) has trained this week but remains doubtful, while Enzo Fernandez and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall have also trained and are in contention to play against West Ham after missing the win over Bournemouth though illness.
After putting in a man-of-the-match display on his debut against Bournemouth, summer signing Jadon Sancho could be rewarded with his first Chelsea start on either flank at the expense of Pedro Neto or Noni Madueke.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Alvarez, Rodriguez; Kudus, Paqueta, Summerville; Bowen
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Disasi, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson
We say: West Ham United 1-2 Chelsea
Six of the last nine meetings between West Ham and Chelsea have seen at least three goals scored and another entertaining, end-to-end contest could be in store on Saturday.
Although West Ham got their better of Chelsea on home soil last season, they are yet to make their mark at the London Stadium this term and they may come up short once again against an upbeat Blues outfit, who should have enough about them to outscore their opponents on this occasion.
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