Andy Carroll: 'Sam Allardyce can beat Jose Mourinho'

Andy Carroll has stoked the fires ahead of West Ham United's clash with Chelsea by claiming that his manager Sam Allardyce has worked out how to beat Jose Mourinho.

Two of the Premier League's in-form teams clash at Stamford Bridge on Friday, with the Blues top of the league and 11 points clear of the fourth-placed Hammers.

Mourinho's side have enjoyed a blistering start to the campaign after losing just once in all competitions - 26 games - but Carroll says that Allardyce has a trick up his sleeve for the Portuguese.

"He knows how to beat managers, their tactics," he told The Mirror. "He knows what they are going to do against us. It's just a game of chess, really, looking a move ahead.

"It is different tactics, different teams. He's not the same every week. Different things. Obviously he wants a win, but you've got to watch the teams, how they're playing, how we're going to break them down and win the game.

"He's got loads of different ways of attacking, we've got loads of dimensions to go forward. We can do anything. That's what our qualities are at the minute."

West Ham sit two points clear of fifth-placed Southampton in the race for a top-four finish.