Preview
After our 0-0 draw in Kiev, Chelsea now face our 2nd away game of 3 in succession. This time we travel East across London for our last ever league fixture at Upton Park. Despite the score line on Tuesday night, Chelsea looked better. We created chances and defended well. We were unlucky not to win the game after hitting the wood work in each half.
Chelsea will now be hunting for another Premier League win in which is another important match for The Blues. West Ham have got off to their best ever start in the Premier League so tomorrow (Saturday) certainly won’t be easy. However West Ham’s excellent form has come from their away games winning at the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City whereas they have dropped points at home to Bournemouth and Norwich. These are two games you’d expect them to win given their start to the season.
Our last trip to Upton Park ended in a 1-0 win for Chelsea on a cold night fixture last March. The 3 points that night allowed us to take a step closer to our first Premier League title since the 2009/10 season. Chelsea are also the only team in the last 21 games in 2015 to stop West Ham from scoring at home.
West Ham currently sit 8 places above Chelsea with 6 points separating the two sides. Chelsea desperately need to climb the table and at least finish in the Champions League spots this season. The Hammers are unlikely to continue this early season form all the way until the end of the season but Chelsea still need to make sure they don’t fall 3 more points behind already.
Come on Chelsea!
Match Details
Saturday, 24th October, kick off 3:00pm (UK Time) at Upton Park
Recent Form and Previous Meetings
West Ham have started the season on a flyer, but have only managed to win 2 of their last 5 games. However both of these wins have come at tricky grounds to visit of Man City and Crystal Palace. They have drawn 2 too vs Norwich and Sunderland, meaning their other fixture was a loss to Southampton in the Capital One Cup 3rd round.
Chelsea meanwhile have only won 1 of our last 5 games, this was against Aston Villa last weekend at Stamford Bridge. We have drawn 2 vs Newcastle and Dynamo Kyiv and lost the other 2 vs Porto and Southampton.
Chelsea have a good record against West Ham, winning 7 of the last 10 meetings. In those 10 games West Ham have only managed to win once meaning the other 2 fixtures ended in draws.
Chelsea have also managed to win 7 of our last 10 trips to Upton Park while West Ham have won 2 and the other ending equal.
Team News
Mourinho confirmed this morning that the injury situation has stayed the same meaning Remy, Pedro, Ivanovic and Courtois will all miss the game. Due to Pedro’s absence, Hazard is likely to start his 2nd game in succession after being dropped for our last league game against Aston Villa. On Tuesday Zouma started at right back in Ivanovic’s absence and he’ll be looking to keep his spot again after Baba Rahman failed to impress in his last appearance. Fabregas was one of our best players in Ukraine, he’s likely to keep his spot behind the striker meaning Mourinho will probably go with Ramires and Matic in the middle, this would also suit the game better with Ramires able to stop West Ham’s fast breaking attacks.
Moses is ineligible to feature against his parent club as he’s only on loan at West Ham. Three more players who will the match through injury however, are Song, Reid and O’Brien.
There are no suspensions for either side.
My Prediction
West Ham have started the season very well but have failed to manage the same form at home due to their style of play. However if Chelsea go out to dominate the match this may play into West Ham’s hands.
Mourinho has a fantastic record against West Ham so I am therefore backing us to win the game. West Ham have been his 2nd favourite team to face, beating them 8 times in his two spells in charge, he’s only managed to beat Liverpool more times (9).
My prediction: West Ham 1-2 Chelsea.
