It is East meets West in London this weekend as West Ham United travel to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Neither side has impressed so far this season. This match is an opportunity for both sides to lay a marker down and put their inauspicious start behind them.
The Hammers’ start has been exceptionally poor. David Moyes’ men have scored just twice so far this season. The last time they had such a barren start to the EPL in front of goal was almost 30 years ago in the 1994/95 season. David Moyes does not enjoy being in the dugout versus the Blues. He has won none of his 17 away fixtures against Chelsea in his Premier League career.
This does not bode well for The Irons.
West Ham at Chelsea FYIs
Kick-off: Saturday, September 3 at 3pm local, Stamford Bridge
Chelsea Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
After Extra Time Podcast: Spotify Apple
Google Result Probability: Chelsea victory 63% Draw 21% West Ham victory 16%
Team News
2022 Summer Transfer Window Report Cards
Man United Man City Chelsea Arsenal West Ham Liverpool
The only fresh news from a medical room standpoint for the Hammers concerns Gianluca Scamacca. He missed the Tottenham clash with illness and is expected back for this match.
Elsewhere Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson and Nayef Aguerd are all unlikely to play any part in this match. Johnson and Dawson are closer to a return. New signing Aguerd won’t be seen in action until October.
Starting XI Prediction
Lukasz Fabianski lines up between the posts against Chelsea. Kurt Zouma and Thilo Kehrer form the central defensive partnership in front of him. Vlad Coufal starts at right back, with Aaron Cresswell starting on the left.
Tomáš Sou?ek and Declan Rice start at the base of the defense. Both have been underwhelming so far this season and David Moyes will need them back to their best if West Ham is to get a result here.
Said Benrahma, Jarrod Bowen and the new signing Lucas Paqueta line up behind Michail Antonio. Antonio starts as the focal point of attack.
Stueys Two Cents
Two London clubs in awful form face each other this weekend. Chelsea seem to have really bulked up their squad in the closing hours of the transfer window. West ham beefed up their options too, so there is a lot of unknown heading into this one.
With that in mind, I am going with my gut. And my gut says Chelsea gets the win in front of their home fans. Chelsea 2-0
Stuart Kavanagh is a journalist currently residing in Broken Hill, Australia. He writes for the Barrier Truth newspaper, along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, He also co-hosts the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast and contributes at edgeofthecrowd.com when time permits.
Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.