Both West Ham United and Chelsea are going to be trying to get their first Premier League win on the board when they face each other in a London derby on Sunday afternoon.
The two teams drew their opening game, with Chelsea’s coming against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge and West Ham’s coming away at Bournemouth after a late equaliser from Dominic Solanke.
Given Chelsea do not have any European football to worry about this season, they want to rack up as many points as they can early in the season to assert some dominance in the Premier League. There is also a chance that Chelsea fans will get to take a look at Moises Caicedo in a Chelsea shirt here.
Here is all that you need to know about Sunday’s clash in east London.
West Ham vs Chelsea H2H Record (Last Five Games)
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
SKY GO Extra, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD |
|
United States |
NBC Sports App, UNIVERSO, USA Network, nbcsports.com, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, Telemundo |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada |
A lot of the focus in this match is likely to be on the midfield, with West Ham fans on the lookout for James Ward Prowse’s debut. His move from Southampton has gone through and there is a very real chance that David Moyes will use him straight away.
It is very unlikely that Edson Alvarez is going to play though, as he is still trying to get up to the fitness level needed after he stopped training with Ajax ahead of the move. Moyes is expected to keep Alphonse Areola in goal.
West Ham predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-3-3): Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Paqueta, Ward-Prowse, Soucek; Benrahma, Antonio, Bowen
READ THE LATEST CHELSEA NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
There are a fair few injuries for Mauricio Pochettino to contend with early in his Chelsea career. He is going to be without Reece James, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Christopher Nkunku and Trevoh Chalobah for at least this match.
The good news is that Pochettino should be able to use a defensive midfielder in this one, as Caicedo will be eligible to start the game after his record move from Brighton. Chelsea looked very open against Liverpool, so Pochettino may well bring him straight in.
Romeo Lavia has now joined the club as well, but is not expected to come straight into the starting eleven.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs West Ham (3-4-2-1): Sanchez; Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Gusto, Caicedo, Fernandez, Chilwell; Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson
West Ham should be in for a better campaign than the one that they endured last term, but they are still trying to secure a settled squad with players arriving and others possibly leaving before the window shuts.
For that reason, and the assumed impact that Caicedo can have on this Chelsea team, Pochettino’s side have to be the favourites to win here. There was clear improvement from Chelsea against Liverpool and while it will take time, they should win a lot more of these games than they did last season.
Prediction: West Ham 1-2 Chelsea
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
