Chelsea at West Ham predicted XI: Absentees return in fluid 3-4-2-1
Reece James (No. 24) Right wingback, England
Reece James deserves a shout as Chelsea’s best player this season so far. He has been phenomenal this year, scoring and assisting a lot recently. James leads all Blues players in in goals plus assists this campaign. This highlights how good he has been. James was missed against Watford, though he was poor against Manchester United. Chelsea will need all of its first choice players available to it, especially those in specialized positions like the wingback department.
Jorginho (No. 5) Central midfielder, Italy
Jorginho was sorely missed against Watford. Unfortunately, it took being bullied by the Hornets in a crucial game for many to appreciate Jorginho’s work. It shouldn’t have taken that long. Some, even in the fanbase, think Jorginho had no business being in the running or the Ballon d’Or, but that’s because they were not paying attention. Jorginho was key for the Blues and for Italy in the role he played. Jorginho’s role was winning the ball back and distributing it; he was outstanding. Of course, every player’s job looks easy until someone else is put there to carry it out and they don’t quite do it to the same level. That said, the pressure from Watford was intense and Claudio Ranieri got his game plan right on the money.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (No. 12) Central midfielder, England
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was poor in the Watford game. He did not release the ball nearly as quickly as he should have and though he did win a lot of fouls, sometimes releasing the ball at the right time is more important than winning the foul. He is one of the few tall players Chelsea has, so he is also likely to start.
Marcos Alonso (No. 3) Left wingback, Spain
Chelsea had four or five players above six feet at the end of last season. However, two of the tallest of that bunch have now left Chelsea. Tammy Abraham and Kurt Zouma were both about 190cm (6’3) tall, but they’re now gone. Marcos Alonso is slightly shorter than them at 6’2. This means that Alonso is one of the few tall players the Blues have left in the line-up. Regardless of what you think about his performance against Watford, he has to start against West Ham. Chelsea’s tallest player is only as tall as the shortest of West Ham’s tallest players. Zouma is shorter than Craig Dawson and much shorter than Tomas Soucek. Also, about Alonso’s performance, he led the team in pressures, interceptions, blocks, shot-creating actions and goal-creating actions, according to fbref. Perception is often different from reality.