West Ham v Chelsea Preview

After winning their first 5 games in the Premier League, Chelsea find themselves sitting top of the table on maximum points. In contrast West Ham had been rooted to the bottom of the table without a win, until an unlikely 3-1 win at Everton lifted them out of the dreaded relegation zone.

Chelsea will be strong favourites to win this game, though West Ham will be slightly more confident due to the win over Everton last week. The game is on Sunday at 13:30pm and Chelsea will be looking to win to stay at the top of the table, rivals Liverpool are at home to Southampton the day before and should record a victory.

Head-to-head:

With a total of 26 games played against each other, Chelsea recorded 17 victories, with the Hammers triumphing over them just 4 times. The two teams have recorded a draw 5 times.

Last five meetings

Chelsea 1-1 West Ham

West Ham 1-0 Chelsea

West Ham 1-2 Chelsea

West Ham 2-1 Chelsea

Chelsea 2-1 West Ham

Team news

West Ham

A big blow to West Ham is that Arnautovic is unlikely to play, if that is the case I think it makes the task much much harder for West Ham in this game. Confirmed players out for the match are Carroll (Ankle), Lanzini (Knee), Reid (Knee) and Wilshere (Ankle). Also a doubt is Chicarito, which means West Ham are very light on strikers and this means Yarmolenko is very likely to start. After much tinkering it looks like Pellegrini has finally sorted out some of the defensive problems West Ham have had, that defence will be severely tested on Sunday.

[Goalkeepers]

Adrian

Lukasz Fabianski

Nathan Trott

[Defenders]

Fabian Balbuena

Aron Cresswell

Issa Diop

Arthur Massuaku

Angelo Ogbonna

Josh Pask

Pablo Zabaleta

[Midfielders]

Felipe Anderson

Michail Antonio

Conor Coventry

Grady Diangana

Ryan Fredericks

Mark Noble

Pedro Obiang

Reece Oxford

Declan Rice

Carlos Sanchez

Robert Snodgrass

[Forwards]

Nathan Holland

Lucas Perez

Xande Silva

Andriy Yarmolenko

Chelsea

Chelsea have practically a full squad to choose from as van Ginkel (Knee) is the only confirmed absence. Unlikely to play are Emerson (Illness) and Kovacic (Thigh). Eden Hazard was rested in Chelsea's last game and he will be the main danger man. Chelsea have a very good record against West Ham, 17 wins in 26 games, so they will be looking for that stat to continue on Sunday.

[Goalkeepers]

Kepa Arrizabalaga

Marcin Bulka

Wilfredo Caballero

Robert Green

Jared Thompson

[Defenders]

Marcos Alonso

Cesar Azpilcueta

Gary Cahill

Andreas Christensen

David Luiz

Victor Moses

Antonio Rudiger

Davide Zappacosta

[Midfielders]

Ethan Ampadu

Ross Barkley

Daniel Drinkwater

Cesc Fabregas

Eden Hazard

Callum Hudson-Odoi

Jorginho

N'Golo Kante

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Pedro

Lucas Piazon

Willian

[Forwards]

Olivier Giroud

Alvaro Morata

Verdict

The win against Everton was very much needed for West Ham to kick start their season, but this fixture looks very difficult for them given the form Chelsea are currently in, we do raise our game against big teams but the injuries in our squad are going to cost us I feel. The prediction is 3-1 to Chelsea so BTTS looks a good option for this match, but for the winner I cannot see past Chelsea.