Chelsea host West Ham United at Stamford Bridge in a London derby with both teams seeking crucial points. Chelsea are in strong form, having won four consecutive matches in all competitions, including a comeback victory against Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday night. They currently sit fifth in the Premier League and are pushing for a top-four finish. West Ham, meanwhile, have revived our survival hopes with back-to-back league wins, but remain in the relegation zone, five points from safety.
Historically, Chelsea have dominated this fixture, winning their last four meetings against us. The Blues have also won their last two Premier League games against the Hammers by an aggregate score of 8-0. West Ham have managed just one win in their last 18 Premier League away games at Stamford Bridge, losing the last four in a row since November 2019.
West Ham’s recent improvement is built on a more resilient defence although we still haven’t kept a clean sheet in Premier League games for ages. Only Burnley have allowed more shots on goal than West Ham this season and we have the worst goals conceded record in the league.
The attack has been strengthened with the early transfer window signings of Pablo and Taty, Wilson looks like he is staying, Summerville is in excellent form, and Bowen is always an attacking threat. New signing Adama Traore could make his debut, with manager Nuno keen to use his pace. Traore once destroyed West Ham when playing for Middlesbrough a few seasons back but hasn’t really fulfilled what was once tremendous promise. So many are writing him off already, but he hasn’t cost a lot and I, for one, will not make any judgement until we’ve seen him. Wilson wasn’t a popular signing at the start but he has proved to be useful and the critics have been silenced for now.
Nuno is obviously very keen on Traore. As quoted in the week “I know him very well, I have worked with him many years and I know him which is why I said he is unique. There are not many players with his ability on one-v-one situations. There are not many players with his speed, with his pace and I think he is going to give us many, many things. We need his threat he possesses. His energy, not only on the pitch but in the dressing room and training ground he is a special person to have around.” So I think we can expect to see him sooner rather than later.
Fernandes had an excellent game against Sunderland; it’s hard to believe he has never before scored a goal from outside the area with those two wonder strikes, the first going in, and the second (possibly even better) striking the underside of the bar. Paqueta has left the club so we won’t have to put up any longer with a player who didn’t seem interested any more with his mind set on returning to Brazil. A few moments of magic have been mixed with some mediocre displays.
While he remained he was always going to play whilst Nuno was in charge. In the week his comments on the situation were “You cannot replace Lucas because he is unique. He is a number 10 that has special qualities. You cannot find many players like Lucas in the transfer window, you cannot find them. We have to move forward with that we have.” But is it coincidence that our wins and upturn in form have been with Paqueta not playing?
Chelsea have been scoring early, netting five goals in the first ten minutes of matches this season. West Ham, conversely, have conceded nine goals in the opening ten minutes, more than any other Premier League side. Chelsea’s home form is solid, but they have dropped points from winning positions recently, so maintaining focus will be key for them. Chelsea have scored the opening goal in five of their last six Premier League games but won only one of those. Cole Palmer returned from injury and could start after a strong cameo against Napoli. Joao Pedro is in excellent form, scoring twice in the Champions League and expected to lead the attack.
Looking at the league table and recent form, only Bournemouth of the teams in the bottom half of the table (from Sunderland 11th downwards) have picked up more points in their last six games (8) than we have (7). Worryingly Leeds and Forest, the teams immediately above us have also amassed seven. Palace are in freefall collecting just two points from the last six so we must hope that they, and perhaps one or two others continue with their poor form.
Most analysts and betting sites favour Chelsea on Saturday given their form and home advantage. The consensus prediction is a Chelsea win, with scores ranging from 2-1 to 3-1. Let’s hope our recent momentum makes us competitive enough to spring a surprise. With just fifteen games of the season left we have to start closing the gap on the teams above us.
Under The Hammers 
Richard, I hate to be defeatist, but feel that defeat today is inevitable. I’m not confident that a single WH player would make the Chelsea first team, and they have a squad of massive depth.I hope to be proved wrong. However, you are right about the good things that are happening for us, and the real trick will be to not panic after today. You failed to mention when talking of Palace that they play Forest this weekend ( without Mateta, who is sulking because he didn’t get his transfer to Inter Milan) and without Olise, Eze, Andersen and Guehi . Any team would miss players of that calibre. On current form the “ gap” could be eight points come Monday morning and that is going to be tough to close. I’ve seen Traore play against us once or twice over the years and he can be formidable. Lightning pace for a big man ( a very big man) and decent control. I tend to think of him as the Frank Bruno of football, needing massive amounts of oxygen to move that much muscle and prone to running out of steam before delivering! Let’s see if he can make a difference to our too slow linking play. I have said to Geoff many times that Jesse Lingard was the best at that we have had for many a year, what a shame that he, and we, couldn’t have sorted something out. Hope does spring eternal, but it’s the hope that kills you! All the best. Mike.
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I think we have 7 very winnable games left out of 15. Maybe also a couple of sneaky draws. Don’t think we can expect much out of the rest, so whilst hope is always there, I’m not expecting much today other than maybe a good effort. Unfortunately I still think our final position will be squeaky bum time.
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