Preview: Chelsea vs West Ham United - prediction, team news, lineups

Fresh from their Champions League triumph in midweek, Chelsea welcome a resurgent West Ham United outfit to Stamford Bridge for a Premier League London derby on Saturday evening.

The two teams meet for the first time since August when the Blues cruised to a 5-1 victory over a Graham Potter-led Hammers side at the London Stadium.

Match preview

Chelsea secured automatic last-16 qualification in the Champions League on Wednesday night when they came from behind to beat Antonio Conte’s Napoli 3-2 in Italy, courtesy of two superb second-half strikes from in-form Joao Pedro.

The West Londoners have won five of their six matches in all competitions under new head coach Liam Rosenior, who will be bidding to become just the fourth English manager to win his first three Premier League games, after Bobby Gould in August 1992, Sam Allardyce in August 2001 and Craig Shakespeare (first five) in April 2017, when he leads out the Blues this weekend.

Rosenior has already steered his Chelsea side to two top-flight victories against London-based opposition, with a 2-0 home success over Brentford followed by a 3-1 win at Crystal Palace last weekend, a result which helped the Blues climb up to fifth in the table and just one point behind Man United in fourth spot.

Not since October/November 2020 have Chelsea won three Premier League games in a row by 2+ goals, and they will be confident of success against West Ham this weekend as they have prevailed in each of their last four top-flight meetings with the Hammers by an aggregate score of 15-2 - their longest winning run against them since a six-game streak between 2006 and 2008.

In total, the Blues have scored a whopping 109 goals in 59 Premier League encounters with West Ham, their second-highest tally against a single opponent in the division after Tottenham Hotspur (122 goals in 67 games).

After enduring a miserable 10-game winless run in all competitions, West Ham have since turned a corner under head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, as they have come out on top in each of their last three games against Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham and Sunderland.

A 2-1 extra-time win over QPR in the FA Cup was followed by somewhat surprising back-to-back Premier League victories away against Spurs and at home to Sunderland, beating the latter 3-1 last weekend thanks to first-half strikes from Crysencio Summerville, Jarrod Bowen and Mateus Fernandes.

Unfortunately for the Hammers, they remain 18th in the Premier League table and five points adrift of safety following Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 win at Brentford last time out, but there are still 15 games remaining for Nuno’s side to reduce the gap to safety and climb out of the relegation zone.

Not since December 2023 under former boss David Moyes have West Ham won three Premier League games on the bounce, while they last won consecutive London derby matches in the 2021-22 campaign when they prevailed against Spurs (1-0) and Chelsea (3-2).

However, West Ham have largely struggled to get the better of Chelsea in the Premier League, especially on the road, as they have won only one of their last 19 top-flight away matches against the Blues (D4 L14), losing each their last five in a row since a 1-0 victory in November 2019.

Chelsea Premier League form:

Chelsea form (all competitions):

West Ham United Premier League form:

West Ham United form (all competitions):

Team News

Chelsea’s Dario Essugo recently suffered a freak injury in training and is facing over a month on the sidelines, while Tosin Adarabioyo (hamstring), Levi Colwill (knee), Romeo Lavia (thigh) and Mykhailo Mudryk (suspended) remain unavailable for selection.

Rosenior said after the midweek win over Napoli that there was “no way” Cole Palmer - who provided two assists as a substitute - could have started, but he is now “fully fit” and a late call is set to be made on whether he begins against West Ham.

Joao Pedro will hope to get the nod over Liam Delap to continue up front after scoring four goals in his last four appearances, while captain Reece James could move to right-back or centre-midfield after playing the full 90 minutes at centre-back in midweek.

Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile will both be pushing for recalls in defence, as Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens bid to force their way into the first XI on the flanks at the expense of Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian.

As for West Ham, Nuno may consider handing new signing Adama Traore his full debut following his £2m transfer from Fulham, though Bowen and Summerville are the most likely duo to continue out wide.

Valentin Castellanos and Pablo Felipe - two more January additions - started together in attack in the win over Sunderland and they are set to retain their places in the first XI, with Callum Wilson providing cover as a substitute.

El Hadji Malick Diouf could replace Oliver Scarles at left-back and join Jean-Clair Todibo, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in a four-man defence, protecting goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

Backup shot-stopper Lukasz Fabianski (back) is West Ham’s only injury concern, while Lucas Paqueta and James Ward-Prowse are on the verge of completing transfers to Flamengo and Burnley respectively, the latter leaving on loan.

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Fofana, Cucurella; James, Caicedo; Neto, Fernandez, Garnacho; Pedro

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Mavropanos, Diouf; Bowen, Fernandes, Soucek, Summerville; Pablo; Castellanos

We say: Chelsea 2-0 West Ham United

Chelsea are sure to have taken note of West Ham’s recent revival and their renewed threat in the final third, but the Blues will still be regarded as favourites to come out on top this weekend.

Rosenior’s side have looked stronger as a team in recent weeks and even if Palmer is not named in the starting lineup once again, Chelsea should still have enough quality on display to get the job done and boost their top-five hopes.

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