West Ham United bring a three game losing streak to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea cannot expect to coast through this game, but it is as manageable as a derby will ever be.
While it is strange to consider West Ham a threat to Chelsea, this is still a London derby. And when it comes to derbies, logic doesn’t always win out. The better equipped team doesn’t always win. West Ham are very talented team on the offensive end of the pitch, so they could just as easily put an end to their wretched run of form.
West Ham have played in a 4-2-3-1 formation this season. They have a lot of talent in the offensive phase of the pitch, but Manuel Pellegrini has not found any balance.
They have also lost Lukasz Fabianski, who is one of the better goalkeepers in the Premier League. Roberto Jimenez, suffice it to say, has not stepped up and been up to the mark.
Before getting injured, Fabianksi conceded eight goals in 574 Premier League minutes: about one every 72 minutes. Roberto is shipping goals at nearly twice that rate: 15 in the Premier League and four in the League Cup, coming out to one every 41 minutes in all competitions. The Hammers have club legend Alvin Martin’s son, 33-year old David Martin, on the bench, but have been reluctant to put him between the sticks. For this game they have also included Development Squad keeper, 19-year old Joseph Anang, in the squad. Pellegrini has a major decision on his hands over who he trusts to stem the damage at the back.
In defence, West Ham will miss Issa Diop, who’s out through suspension. He is arguably the leading defender at the club. They will instead line up with Fabian Balbuena and Angelo Ogbonna in the centre of defence. Chelsea can effectively target them with Olivier Giroud, who should start for the injured Tammy Abraham.
Aaron Cresswell and Ryan Fredericks will start at full back. Fredericks is rapid but is a liability defensively. This can be exploited by Christian Pulisic and Emerson on Chelsea’s left, who should be at the tip of Chelsea’s attack as Cresswell, on the other side, is more solid and will do a solid job at left back.
In the pivot, Pellegrini will stay with Mark Noble and Declan Rice. Noble has had a very good season, but unfortunately doesn’t have the legs any more. Rice has had to do a lot of defensive work. This problem is compounded by their lack of any other reliable defensive midfielder in their squad. Mason Mount, who should start this game, will have field day picking spaces between these two.
Andrii Yarmolenko, Robert Snodgrass and Felipe Anderson will line up in attacking midfield. This is where West Ham are most dangerous if they can find some cohesion. Chelsea need to be careful and, with Sebastien Haller as the target man, these attacking midfielders will come into the game a lot more. Fikayo Tomori and Kurt Zouma need to guard against overloads from the attacking midfielders in support of Haller.
Chelsea should stay with their usual 4-2-3-1 to match up against West Ham’s. Lampard should rest Cesar Azpilicueta and start Reece James on the right and Emerson on the left, with the familiar duo of Tomori and Zouma in the centre. Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic should take up the deep midfielder spots, with Pulisic, Mount and Willian ahead of them; and Olivier Giroud leading the line.
Mateo Kovacic should start ahead of N’Golo Kante because Kante is only just coming back from injury and needs to be nursed back. Giroud is preferable to Michy Batshuayi because Giroud’s hold-up play is exceptional and will bring the likes of Pulisic, Mount and Willian into the game.
No London derby can ever be taken for granted, but Chelsea have every advantage over West Ham.