West Ham will be hosting their London rivals Chelsea at the London stadium today, in an early kick-off. The match will start at 5 pm IST, 12:30 pm BST. Everyone is expecting an entertaining and feisty fixture between the two sides. In the last few games, West Ham United have shown their potential and what they are capable of achieving.
On the other hand, Chelsea have displayed that they can run riot on mid table clubs. Till now, the Blues have performed well in their away games. They played their first away game at the Molineux Stadium, where they defeated Wolves with a massive scoreline of 6-2. Recently, they also beat Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. Therefore, the Blues have maintained a 100% winning record in their away games so far in the Premier League this season.
Chelsea will try to keep their undefeated streak intact at the heart of the London Stadium. When it is a Derby, things are always difficult. Therefore, it will be a quite a challenge for the Blues.
Predicted Chelsea Line-up
After the game against Bournemouth, fans are expecting Christopher Nkunku to start in place of Nicolas Jackson. According to The Chelsea Chronicle, the fans are extremely excited to see Nkunku in the number nine position. Jadon Sancho might start as a left-winger in place of Pedro Neto, which would be the Englishman’s first start for the Blues. Noni Madueke will most likely join Nkunku and Sanchi from the right-flank. Madueke has been in superb form for the Blues this season, scoring 4 goals in 6 games.
Recent reports also stated that Enzo Fernandez has trained with the Chelsea first team. So, we can Enzo’s return and again see the partnership of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in the midfield. The Belgian midfielder, Romeo Lavia, will also available for this match as confirmed by Enzo Maresca. The fans might see him later on in the match.
Enzo Maresca will most likely employ Cole Palmer in the number ten position. We don’t need to provide any explanation of his brilliance. Palmer can again provide the magic that the Blues need in the final third. If things don’t go well in the right-wing position, the Italian manager can bring on Pedro Neto in the second half. In the previous game, we observed that the Portuguese winger is not comfortable playing on the left-flank. So, Maresca can change his position to get the best out of him.
In the defence, we are expecting to see the partnership of Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo. Malo Gusto will be back and is expected to start in the right-back position because he has recovered from his thigh injury. So, Maresca again can go for a back four instead of a back three system. We all saw that Axel Disasi and Wesley Fofana are not comfortable playing in a back-three system. Recce James won’t be available for the match because he still hasn’t recovered from his injury.
Marc Cucurella will again most likely start in the left-back position. Later on in the second half, Renato Veiga can replace him. For the goalkeeping position, we can see Robert Sanchez between the posts. Every Chelsea fan will be expecting a high-quality performance from Sanchez yet again.
Match Prediction
We all know that West Ham are a difficult team to beat because they have some world-class players in their repertoire. Players like Mohamed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, and James Ward Prowse can slice open Chelsea’s defense. So, Chelsea midfielders should dominate the middle of the pitch at any cost.
On top of that, the Hammers are good at converting set-pieces and corners. West Ham midfielder Thomas Soucek has the ability to score goals from all types of set-piece.
If Chelsea players can dominate the midfield and can control the tempo of the game, then only the Blues can win. Lopetegui’s team are also good at making quick counter-attacks. Moises Caicedo will be a crucial player for the Blues because he can break a counterattack by making tackles.
We are predicting Chelsea will win this match with a scoreline of 2-1.
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