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West Ham v CHELSEA: Preview

Date: Wednesday 1st July 2020

Venue: London Stadium

Kick-off: 20:15 BST

As the post-lockdown games continue, tonight it’s West Ham’s FA Cup, as we travel to the London Stadium in the Premier League.

We progressed to the FA Cup semi-final in our last game, with a win against Leicester City but we definitely didn’t cover ourselves in glory for the first 45 minutes. To be fair, it was a changed side in that half and Frank addressed that with 3 subs straight after the break but we looked a little less resilient than we had in our win against City in our last Premier League game.

Our problem now is, with the sides below us keeping up the pace to narrow the gap,, we have absolutely no margin for error. So, the pressure is all on us, and West Ham will happily contribute to that.  They might have lost two out of two and found goals harder to come by than hand sanitiser at the start of lockdown, but they’ll throw whatever they’ve got left at us. The question is, will it be the Chelsea in the second half against City, or the Chelsea in the first half against Leicester that turn up?

MANAGER’S VIEWS

Going into today’s game, West Ham manager David Moyes, says “The last three teams are teams going for the Champions League, but there is no such thing as a free hit. I’m trying to win and we’re preparing to win all the games. We went to Anfield and gave a really good account of ourselves. I’ve got to hope we can tip the balance and take something. We’ve got to try and score goals and not concede.”

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard, meanwhile, says It will be different as we have all seen how different it is with no fans. It makes it more about an 11 vs 11.  A London derby should always back their team and give them the edge, but it doesn’t bother me. We have had a few games and we know what it is.

I am enjoying it that we are back and doing what we do. Leicester felt the most different as we didn’t put our best performance in the first half. I am happy to win games, elements of the way we have played. We showed steel against Man City, it’s something we must improve and get better at. We need to keep working and we need to focus on every part of our game.”

SQUAD NEWS

For West Ham, Snodgrass (back) is out, Angelo Ogbonna is “getting closer”, Haller (hip) is a major doubt and Masuaku will be assessed. Declan Rice is expected to start.

For Chelsea, Tomori remains out and Pulisic (calf) and Christensen (hip) face late tests.

TEAMS

WEST HAM (Possible line-up): Fabianski; Fredericks, Ogbonna, Diop, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Fornals, Noble, Anderson; Antonio

CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Zouma, Alonso; Barkley, Kante, Kovacic; Willian, Giroud, Loftus-Cheek

LAST SEASON

West Ham 0-0 Chelsea (23 September 2018)

CURRENT FORM (PL)

WEST HAM: LLWLLL

CHELSEA: LWDWWW

OTHER STUFF

  • West Ham are looking for their first league double over Chelsea since 2002-03.
  • West Ham have only lost one of the past five meetings.
  • West Ham have only won one of their past 11 league matches.
  • West Ham could lose four home Premier League London derbies in a row for the first time.
  • Only Southampton have earned fewer points at home than West Ham’s 15 this season.
  • Chelsea have won five consecutive games in all competitions
  • Only Manchester City have scored more away league goals than Chelsea’s 31 this season
  • Chelsea have only lost once in eight Premier League matches
  • Chelsea have only kept one clean sheet in their 15 Premier League away matches this season

PREDICTION

BBC Sport: West Ham 0-1 Chelsea

90min.com: West Ham 1-0 Chelsea

Sportsmole: West Ham 1-2 Chelsea

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