The Hammers take on the Blues at home, only days after narrowly losing out to Manchester United in a mid-week Premier League game.
Form Guide:
West Ham:
The Londoners have had a similar run of results like their cross-town rivals, but theirs is slightly superior, with a win against Newcastle United currently showing that on paper at least, West Ham are better than European champions Chelsea.
A narrow loss at Old Trafford was a morale boosting one for Sam Allardyce’s men, who gave the 19-time English title winners a run for their money at the very end.
However, defeat against Tottenham shows that they can succumb to a bombardment of attacks and new boss Rafa Benitez will be looking to exploit that at the Boleyn Ground.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786:
Only two games in-charge, Benitez, is already beginning to feel the heat at Stamford Bridge, as his men recorded a lacklustre draw against Fulham.
The Cottagers endured a 90-minute snore-fest, as Chelsea midfielders http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ramires-c30523 and John Obi-Mikel preferred to stay in the middle of the park rather than go forward, leading to a battle for possession rather than an end-to-end clash.
West Brom got the better of the Blues a couple of weeks ago and a similar result could be on the cards if Benitez’s troops fail to provide the spark on this occasion as well.
Team News:
West Ham:
Allardyce’s defensively strong outfit kept out United for most of the night on Wednesday, but the coach still has some key players missing for this one.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alou-Diarra-c5259 (thigh) and Jack Collison (knee) are still sidelined with problems of their own, but Collison is reportedly on the road to recovery and could feature if he manages to overcome a late fitness test.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/George-McCartney-c14574 (groin) and Mark Noble are set to return after missing the visit to Manchester earlier.
Chelsea:
Brazilian star http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-Sturridge-c10076 (hamstring) are also going to
miss the game, but could be in contention for a UEFA Champions League comeback.
With Luiz gone, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ashley-Cole-c6809 has been impressive at left-back and should retain his place, while Ramires and Mikel will continue as holding midfielders.
Juan Mata, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707.
While the club have struggled to get results as of late, Spanish coach Rafa Benitez still insists that his squad can improve as the season goes on.
“The Premier League is a long, long competition. I think we can win the league, why not? The main thing is to win games. If we can win games, we will be up there and we will win competitions. The players are quite happy with what we are trying to do and
it will be a question of time. If you don’t have time, you cannot manage.”
“It’s not easy to judge after five training sessions and two matches. We need time to work on things. Two clean sheets is something positive but I want to score more goals and be more offensive,” the former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 manager was quoted as saying.
Author Prediction:
West Ham 1-0 Chelsea
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