Chelsea FC vs West Ham United- Preview

Premier League football is back in Stamford Bridge as the blues take on the hammers in this season’s 2nd London derby. Chelsea are currently 4th in the league table with 13 games played this season. After the defeat against Man City in the last league game, the blues will be looking to get things back on track and it would be a delight if the feat starts in a London derby. This will be the first time that our gaffer will be facing his boyhood club as a manager, which makes this derby even more exciting.

Frank Lampard’s Press Conference

Regarding the injuries, gaffer mentioned that Abraham will miss the Saturday’s clash against hammers after he faced a hip injury in the last game against Valencia in the UCL group H fixture. Frank also confirmed that Rudiger is recovering well and is also training with the first team and is pushing hard for a comeback after his injury. There were no updates regarding our long term absentee, Ruben Loftus Cheek. Gaffer also spoke about the clash against West Ham stating that irrespective of the form of the rivals, teams do turn up as it is a derby, so there is no good or bad time to play against them. Gaffer when asked about his defence, he mentioned that he was not quite concerned about the defence as Premier League is very demanding and there will be goals from the opposition as such, but there is always a scope for improvement but he did stated out the fact that he was left unimpressed with his players in the defensive duties for the last 20 minutes in the match against Valencia.

Lampard was seen quite supportive for our #1, Kepa Arrizabalaga when asked about his recent performances. Gaffer mentioned that he is working very hard in the training and he is looking to improve all the time. He also mentioned that after the Valencia game, Kepa was the first player who accepted the fact that he should have done better. Finally, gaffer expressed his opinion when asked about the feelings and emotions of facing his boyhood club for the first time as a manager. He asserted that he is only there to get a result from the game and he expects to bring passion and effort in the teams’ gameplay. Stating about the opposition, Gaffer did mentioned that they have some quality players in their squad and the team doesn’t take this fixture lightly.

Head to Head: Chelsea FC vs West Ham United

Both the sides have met on 112 occasions during the Premier League era, with the blues having the majority of the wins in their side against West Ham’s tally of 40 games. The rest 22 games ended in a draw. The last time these two London sides met, the blues won the game 2-0 with a wonder goal from our ex player and legend, Eden Hazard.

Predicted Line-up for Chelsea

Chelsea are expected to play in a 4-3-3 formation against West Ham tonight. Knowing the attacking capabilities of the opponent, Lampard would surely try to play out the game with a disciplined defending at the back. This is the team we can expect for tonight’s match:

Photo courtesy: www.buildlineup.com

Players to Watch Out for

Mateo Kovacic: The Croatian midfield maestro is in fine form and recently got his first goal for the club in the game against Valencia. It seems like he is developing really well under Frank Lampard and that is evident in all the recent games that he was involved in. The match being a London derby, the pressure will be surely high on him but a good performance from the midfielder could certainly get us those crucial 3 points.

Christian Pulisic: Our American no.22, Christian Pulisic is in an amazing form at the moment and he would certainly play a crucial role from the left wing in tonight’s game. Having such quick feets and dribbling qualities, he will surely be pose a problem for West Ham’s defence.

Willian: Our new no.10 is a totally different player than what he was the last season. Lampard’s style has surely suited him and as such the results could be seen on the pitch. Having such experience in this team, he would surely be the one that young guns would look upto for the upcoming games.

Keep The Blue Flag Flying High!!!

- Mainak Mitra