Match Reports

West Bromwich Albion vs Chelsea – Match Preview

By Tom Webb -

Chelsea will travel to the Hawthorns this weekend to continue their quest for their first victory of the season.

West Brom away has proved to be a tough test in recent years however Chelsea will be more determined than ever to get the victory. In recent weeks a lot of headlines have been negative about Chelsea and Mourinho. His squad will be desperate to put them to bed and silent their critics.

Since our loss to Manchester City last weekend, Chelsea have made two new signings. Baba Rahman from Augsburg and more recently Pedro from Barcelona. These are two good signings for us as not only will they improve our first team, they will improve our squad depth which has looked pretty weak so far this season as at the Etihad we didn’t have anyone who has been able to change the game in an attacking sense during their time at Chelsea.

Despite our recent form, I am confident ahead of this weekends fixture. The squad have had a week to iron out the problems we experienced at Man City and they’ll be eager to get our first victory of the season. Our two new signings also show the club has addressed problems and is keen to make sure we don’t get behind. Hopefully the 3 points will travelling back to London this weekend. Come on Chelsea!

Match Details

Sunday,  23rd August, 1:30 PM (UK Time), at the Hawthorns on Sky Sports 1.

Recent form and previous meetings

Both Chelsea and West Brom are yet to record a win this season, while Chelsea have played 3 matches and West Brom just the two.

Chelsea started the season against Arsenal in the Community Shield, losing 1-0 after Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first half strike. The following weekend Chelsea kicked off their Premier League campaign with 2-2 draw against Swansea at Stamford Bridge. Oscar gave us the lead and remains our only goal scorer this season as our second was an own goal. Our next game was an awful outing at the Etihad Stadium where we were beaten 3-0 by our main title rivals Manchester City. Mourinho will be hoping for a much improved display this weekend.

West Brom were also beaten 3-0 by Manchester City on the opening day of the season. They then travelled to Vicarage Road to face newly promoted Watford. This was a game of little chances and ended in a 0-0 draw. Tony Pulis’ side are yet to register a goal this season.

The last 5 Premier League meetings between the two clubs at both Stamford Bridge and the Hawthorns have resulted in 2 wins for Chelsea, 2 draws and just the one win for West Brom. West Brom’s win over us came at the end of last season in our final away game where we lost 3-0. However at this point Chelsea had already clinched the league title.

In recent years the Hawthorns hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Chelsea. Our last 5 visits to the Midlands in the Premier League have ended in 3 defeats, 1 draw and just the 1 victory for the Blues. The last victory coming in 2011.

Team News

Chelsea will welcome Thibaut Courtois back into the side after he has completed his suspension after he received a red card in our opening Premier League game against Swansea. Mourinho has also ruled out Victor Moses and Oscar. He said in Friday’s press conference that they were both still injured.

New signings Baba Rahman and Pedro will be hoping to make their debuts for us this weekend. However Mourinho has said he is unsure whether either will be available as it may be too soon to chuck them straight into the side.

Ben Foster will remain side lined for West Brom. He has a knee injury and isn’t expected to return until October. Tony Pulis confirmed this morning there’s no other injury news but said a couple of players have been ill this week. However he didn’t mention who. Federico Fazio is also close to joining West Brom however it’s too late for him to be registered to play in Sunday’s game.

Neither side has any suspensions.

Your Predictions

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