Chelsea vs West Ham. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more
Chelsea will host West Ham United at Stamford Bridge in the 34th round of the English Premier League. The match will take place on March 24, beginning at 18:30 IST.
A West Ham win at Stamford Bridge could shake Chelsea’s position in the top-four and sharpen the fight for a place in the Champions League. The teams played their first leg on 4 December. At the Olympic Stadium in London, Edouard Mendy made two errors leading to goals and Chelsea broke their unbeaten run (12 games), lost the top spot in the table and went into a clear decline, gradually dropping out of the race for the title. However, it was after that game that West Ham also got into the storm – the next win for the Hammers came only at the end of the month against Watford.
Is there a chance of success for the Hammers? Let’s find out. Parimatchnews will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.
Chelsea News & Current Form:
Our expectations from the Blues’ meeting with Arsenal were mostly correct, but we certainly did not think that Chelsea would make such an insane number of mistakes and lose the match with a hockey score (2-4). On Wednesday, the Pensioners’ defence, amid a lack of motivation and a peak of fatigue throughout the team, was gripped by real fever. Inexplicably, Cezar Aspilicueta was nervous, the captain launched one of the Gunners’ goal-scoring attacks, and the Spaniard also brought on a penalty (although dubious – Bukayo Saka also held Cesar with his hands). Not to mention the fact that Andreas Christensen managed to give an assist straight to Eddie Nketiah‘s feet, plus even the experienced Thiago Silva was cut off – it was the Brazilian who lost the ball during that very Arsenal attack which led to a penalty.
Of course, such things are completely unrelated to the chemistry factor in the line-up, so there is no way to put the defeat down to Rüdiger’s sudden absence due to injury. Chelsea also conceded 4 goals at Stamford Bridge recently when they took on Brentford in early April (1-4). There are a set of problems to speak of here – the same Loftus-Cheek is hardly pulling off rhythm management at the level of Jorginho‘s prime. Imagine the dreadful condition of the Italian if Tuchel gives Ruben so much playing time.
In the game against Arsenal, Thomas’s men lost to themselves. After the game, the manager said:
“That number of errors in two successive home games at a high level is simply unacceptable. You can’t win by doing things like that”.
In general, all Chelsea have to do now is to work on their morale, relying on Tuchel’s ideas. Much like in Madrid against Real Madrid. The tiredness will disappear only in the summer, and the team still has the opportunity to finish the season in a classy way: in third place in the EPL and with the FA Cup in the trophy cabinet.
Doubtful: Hudson-Odoi (achilles). Injured: Kovacic (ankle, May), Rüdiger (groin, 28 April), Chilwell (knee, Aug).
West Ham United News & Current Form:
Much is speaking against David Moyes’ team.
The Hammers have regressed since the December encounter in terms of points and quality of play. Even more clearly than the Pensioners. Chelsea are unsound at specific moments of the season, while West Ham have simply reached their natural median. Moyes’ team woke up after a disappointing December and took an extremely average pace of scoring points into the standings, which is why the Hammers have fallen out of contention for a place in the top 4. The occasional bright match alternates with a patchwork of poor fixtures. The chances of qualifying for the Eurocup through the championship are fading fast.
In the previous round, the Hammers once again failed to seize the opportunity to get closer to their rivals in the battle for fourth place. At home, the Londoners failed to beat one of the EPL underdogs. The 1-1 draw with Burnley marked the Hammers` sixth defeat in the last nine fixtures. In the previous six games, they had picked up a total of just seven points.
In the game against Burnley, the Londoners not only missed out on two points but also lost Issa Diop. The Frenchman became the Hammers’ third centre-back to be sidelined. Only Craig Dawson remains at David Moyes’ disposal until the end of the season.
Among other things, it may also be noted that West Ham have produced only one win at Stamford Bridge in the last twenty years.
Injured: Ogbonna (knee, unknown), Diop (ankle, unknown), Zouma (ankle, unknown).
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Chelsea season form guide (all competitions): L-L-W-W-W-L
West Ham United season form guide (all competitions): L-W-D-L-W-D
Chelsea vs West Ham United Head-To-Head Record:
| Chelsea | Draw | West Ham United |
| 14 | 6 | 7 |
Last matches:
- 04.12.21 West Ham – Chelsea 3:2;
- 24.04.21 West Ham – Chelsea 0:1;
- 21.12.20 Chelsea – West Ham 3-0;
- 01.07.20 West Ham – Chelsea 3:2;
- 30.11.19 Chelsea – West Ham 0:1.
Chelsea vs West Ham United Predicted XI:
Chelsea possible starting lineup: Mendy; James, Chalobah, Silva, Alonso; Jorginho, Kante; Mount, Ziyech; Havertz, Werner.
West Ham United possible starting lineup: Fabianski; Johnson, Dawson, Rice, Cresswell; Bowen, Fornals, Soucek, Lanzini, Benrahma; Antonio.
Statistical preview of the match Chelsea vs West Ham United:
- Chelsea have conceded ten goals in their previous five home games.
- West Ham have suffered four defeats in their previous five EPL games.
- Chelsea have lost one of their last 15 Premier League games at home against West Ham
- David Moyes is looking for this first win at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on his seventeenth attempt as manager.
- The Blues conceded the same number of goals at Stamford Bridge in the two April games as they did from October to March (8).
- The possibility of losing the 4th consecutive game puts a lot of pressure on the Pensioners. Such a thing last happened as far back as 1978.
What has been said before the match:
“West Ham is a very popular club, a very emotional club with a coach. I follow a lot of their games because it is good to watch. They invest fully physically. They are very dangerous at set-pieces and counter-attacks.”
“It’s a bit fragile at the moment we have to say [speaking about mentality]. Was against Brentford and Real Madrid, then better for the three games, then we had a good start to the match [against Arsenal]. I was happy with the energy and quality but then [after the mistake] we had the feeling of, ‘oh, not again’. We want to have the feeling at home that you can always come back. But now we have three home results in a row we don’t like. We have to convince the players to keep going, supporters to stay positive, and we do have a lot to trust, to not believe in things that are maybe not there. It’s obvious that we are behind and it’s very unusual for me over the last years, I don’t know what it is and if we had a solution, the one thing, we would switch dressing rooms, change the hotel, or something like this. But it’s obviously not at the level we want to produce.”
“Chelsea were arguably the favourites for the Premier League in the first three months of the season – since then you’ve seen the strength of Manchester City and Liverpool. They’re champions of Europe and have a really good squad and manager. They’ve had their ups and downs as all teams do, but they have a top team. It’s just the top two that have ploughed ahead.”
Chelsea vs West Ham United Prediction:
At the moment, West Ham have the potential and ability to surprise. But now, the Hammers are really focused on the Europa League on Thursday – they have to set their priorities, because the Londoners will be short on resources when it comes to playing on two fronts. Especially since the possibility of winning the trophy is indeed in sight. Despite the importance of the London derby, Moyes’ team should save their energy for the game with Eintracht, which had previously crushed Barcelona. Nevertheless, Sunday’s game will definitely be a game of principle. There will be a fight on the field.
Parimatch News staff prediction:
We say: Chelsea to not lose and both teams to score – Yes.
