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West Ham play hosts to fierce London rivals Chelsea on Sunday as they look to build on their first win of the season. Meanwhile, their opponents have collected maximum points from their five games. However, the Irons will fancy their chances after a convincing victory last time out.
Recent form against the Pensioners at home suggests the same because the East London side have won three of their last six games at home versus Chelsea. Here's all you need to know ahead of the clash.
West Ham v Chelsea: Kickoff Information
Date: 23 September
Time: 1:30 (local time), 18:00 (IST)
Venue: London Stadium
West Ham v Chelsea: Team News
West Ham: Marco Arnautovic, who hobbled off in the previous match after suffering a knee strain, is expected to lead the lines for the Hammers again. Javier Hernandez is out due to illness. Jack Wilshere underwent a surgery in his ankle, which will keep him out for about six weeks. Elsewhere, Andy Carroll, Manuel Lanzini and Winston Reid remain long-term casualties.
Chelsea: Pedro, who sustained a shoulder injury in the game against PAOK Salonika, will mostly not feature. However, Sarri confirmed that the injury isn't serious. This game comes too soon for Kovacic as he is still recovering from a minor injury. A host of first-team stars such as Azpilicueta, Hazard and David Luiz will return to the starting XI.
West Ham v Chelsea: Probable Line-ups
West Ham (4-3-3): Fabianski; Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Masuaku; Rice, Noble, Obiang; Yarmolenko, Anderson, Arnautovic
Chelsea (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Jorginho, Kante, Barkley; Willian, Hazard; Giroud
West Ham v Chelsea: Form Guide
Last 5 matches (in all competitions)
West Ham: W-L-W-L-L
Chelsea: W-W-W-W-W
West Ham v Chelsea: Head-to-Head
West Ham wins: 40
Chelsea wins: 49
Draws: 21
West Ham v Chelsea: Key players
West Ham:
Without a doubt, Marco Arnautovic is the hottest property in the West Ham setup at the moment. If there's one man who can orchestrate a win over the pacesetters, it's him. The forward has been directly involved in 80% of the Irons' goals this term with three goals and an assist.
Chelsea:
Ross Barkley has re-established his Chelsea career under the new boss and is slowly finding his feet again. The Englishman starred last weekend against Cardiff since coming on and played a huge role in his side's win in midweek as well. His positional awareness, strength, vision and adaptability set him apart from a few others. Watch out for those runs down the left flank that enlighten the Sarri'ball'.
West Ham v Chelsea: Prediction
As they have done in the last few outings versus the Blues, West Ham's full backs and front three will cause a few problems to their opposition. However, with Chelsea dictating the tempo of the play for the most part of the 90 minutes, expect them to continue their winning run. There will be goals in this game for sure.
Predicted score: West Ham United 2-3 Chelsea
