West Ham United will clash heads with Chelsea at the London Stadium on Wednesday evening hoping to put an end to their nightmare form in the Premier League. The Hammers have suffered three successive league losses but to make things worse, they have not netted a single goal during that time.
The East London outfit are currently sitting just above the relegation zone with only a superior goal-difference separating them from 18th placed Bournemouth in the league standings. Hence, David Moyes will have to figure out a way to lead his players to a positive outcome in midweek. In contrast, the Blues are flying high at the moment after earning five consecutive victories across all competitions. Hence, they will fancy their chances of securing maximum points from this upcoming London derby.
Talking Tactics
David Moyes will opt for a 4-3-3 formation and might make one change to his side for this home encounter in midweek. He will instruct his players to soak in the pressure and threaten the Chelsea defenders on the counter.
Frank Lampard is likely to set-up his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation and will revert to his strong starting XI for this clash on the road. The Blues will expect to enjoy more of the ball during the 90 minutes, so they will have to figure out a way to breakdown the West Ham defence tomorrow using the pace and guile of Christian Pulisic and Willian out on the wide areas.
Team News
West Ham United
Arthur Masuaku is a significant doubt for this game while both Jeremy Ngakia and Sebastien Haller remain long-term casualties and won’t play a part in this London derby. Otherwise, Moyes will have a strong squad to pick from in midweek.
West Ham United Predicted XI
Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Noble, Bowen, Antonio, Fornals
Chelsea
Andreas Christensen, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic and Fikayo Tomori are all major concerns for this game. Otherwise, Lampard has no fresh injury headaches to cope with this week.
Chelsea Predicted XI
Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, Alonso, Kante, Kovacic, Willian, Mount, Pulisic, Giroud
Key Men
West Ham United
Michail Antonio needs to have a productive game if West Ham are to have any chance of pulling off a major upset tomorrow. The midfield three of Mark Noble, Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek will have to fight for every loose ball at the centre of the park, so their collective performance might very well determine the outcome of this derby.
Chelsea
Both Willian and Christian Pulisic are in red-hot form for Chelsea at the moment, so we can expect them to do most of the damage in the opposition half. Olivier Giroud needs to produce a goal-scoring display this week if he wants to retain his place in Lampard’s starting XI.
Odds
The bookmakers have made Chelsea the clear favourites to emerge victorious at the London Stadium after they were priced at 3/5. The draw has been listed as 10/3 while the Hammers are 17/4 underdogs to pull off an upset in this London derby.
