Chelsea will play West Ham United on Saturday lunchtime at the London Stadium in an attempt to win their third straight Premier League away game.
Just four months have passed since the two clubs' previous confrontation, in which the West Londoners easily defeated the Hammers 5-0 at Stamford Bridge.
West Ham had a mixed start to the new season going into the international break, managing to edge past Bournemouth in the EFL Cup but only collecting three of the nine points available in the Premier League.
Raul Jimenez's first-half goal was cancelled out by a dramatic 95th-minute equalizer from Danny Ings, which gave West Ham their sixth-latest Premier League goal on record (since 2006–07). The Hammers made their comeback to action last weekend, salvaging a point in a 1–1 draw against Fulham.
After the game, Julen Lopetegui said he was "happy with the commitment" displayed by his players to rally and rescue a point, but he continued to emphasize that his team, sporting a new appearance, "have a lot of work to do" in the upcoming weeks and months if they want to move up the table.
With four points and a 14th-place ranking in the Premier League, West Ham will be looking to avoid losing their first three home games of the season for the first time, having already lost to Manchester City (1-3) and Aston Villa (1-2) this season. They will take on Chelsea on Saturday.
The Hammers have an up and down form in their last 10 encounters in the top tier matches against Chelsea, winning or not winning games: W5 D2 L3, having gathered 7 points in the last 3 games on the London Stadium field: W2 D1 L0, which include 3 points won during a 3:1 during the match of August during the last season.
Despite the leaked rumors about the off-field divisions between the Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly, and Clearlake Capital, Enzo Maresca has appeared cool and composed in the technical area as the Blues’ head coach to guide his team to seven points in four consecutive games in the English Premier League.
Chelsea have not won the top-flight encounter at home this year, two weeks ago they were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace but they have been solid on their away trips clinching victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bournemouth.
While brushing aside Wolves with such ease 6-2 in August, the Blues’ come from behind to snatch three points in a closely-fought 1-0 win against Bournemouth last week as a result of Match-Winner Nkunku’s 86th minute strike at the Vitality Stadium.
Chelsea are now gearing up for five matches in a span of 16 days, which are in three different competitions, away to West Ham on Saturday and then four consecutive home games against Barrow in the EFL Cup, Brighton & Hove Albion, Gent in the UEFA Europa Conference League and Nottingham Forest.
The blues have only dropped points at the London stadium in the last season but they will go into this weekend’s match with much hope having recorded 30 premier league wins against the Hammers in their 56 meetings, a record only surpassed by Tottenham Hotspur’s 35.
Mohammed Kudus may be moved to the right wing by Bowen's possible inclusion as a striker, while Crysencio Summerville might be given his first Premier League start as a Hammer on the left. Lucas Paqueta might potentially be called up to replace Tomas Soucek as a number ten.
Axel Disasi will start at right-back for Chelsea since Reece James is still out due to a hamstring injury, while Malo Gusto is also expected to play too soon due to a thigh issue.
Romeo Lavia (hamstring) has trained this week but is still uncertain; Enzo Fernandez and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who missed the victory over Bournemouth due to sickness, have also trained and might play against West Ham.
Summer acquisition Jadon Sancho may earn his first Chelsea start on either wing in place of Pedro Neto or Noni Madueke after turning in a man-of-the-match performance on his debut against Bournemouth.
