West Ham vs. Chelsea, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch
Once the Declan Rice derby, with the former Chelsea Academy midfielder regularly providing the goods to keep him on our sights window in and out since becoming a professional for West Ham, this is no longer the case in today’s clash between the Blues and the Hammers. Rice moved to Arsenal on a record Premier League fee only to see Chelsea crash said fee weeks later with their Moisés Caicedo acquisition from Brighton.
On the pitch, things look good for a Chelsea team that have yet to see Mauricio Pochettino’s plan implemented in full force due to unfortunate injuries and transfer delays. Soon we shall see whether the new midfield arrivals, mirroring West Ham’s own reinforcements in Edson Álvarez and James Ward-Prowse, will already hit the ground running for us.
Even then the Chelsea team without Caicedo and Lavia showed Pochettino is on the right track when it comes to reimplementing a winning mentality in a largely revamped squad in comparison to the one that last faced West Ham six months ago. For a team that only has to focus on domestic football this season, matches like today’s are imperative in mounting a top-four challenge and continue showing the new strength that comes from owners willing to go as far as possible to get the Blues back to its former state.
Date / Time: Sunday, August 20, 2023, 16.30 BST; 11:30am EDT; 9pm IST
Venue: Olympic Stadium, London, E20
Referee: John Brooks (on pitch); Paul Tierney (VAR)
Forecast: Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze
On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); USA Network (USA); Star Sports 1 (India); SuperSport Premier League (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports App (USA); Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
West Ham team news: It is hard not to mention Lucas Paquetá when talking about West Ham. The Brazilian midfielder had been linked with Manchester City this summer and had a great performance against Bournemouth on a 1-1 draw last weekend to cement that. But he is now under investigation for betting violations, which could get him involved in a congressional hearing in Brazil.
That aside, manager David Moyes’ biggest loss is still Declan Rice. Álvares and Ward-Prowse joined West Ham less than two weeks ago and it could take a while to fit the former into the Premier League. But Ward-Prowse, being a Premier League stalwart with Southampton for several years before leaving the Saints, might slot right into Moyes’ plan.
In attack Gianluca Scamacca, who scored eight goals in 27 appearances during his single season as a West Ham player, went back to Italy. Michail Antonio continues to be the go-to man to spearhead their offence, with Danny Ings as a bench option and names such as Jarrod Bowen and Saïd Benrahma supporting whoever is their no.9.
Moyes has the luxury of having two very capable goalkeeper in Alphonse Aréola and Lukasz Fabianski. In their previous match the Scottish boss opted to go with Aréola between the posts, alongside former Chelsea defenders Emerson and Kurt Zouma in the four-man backline.
Chelsea team news: It might be too soon for us to see both Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia on the pitch. Especially with the Blues having such a good performance against Liverpool last weekend where both of them had yet to arrive at Stamford Bridge.
Repeating the lineup that drew 1-1 against the Reds won’t be possible due to injuries, with Reece James out of contention for hopefully just a few weeks and not months due to a thigh problem. Otherwise the fans could very well see a very similar starting eleven to the one that took Liverpool on, only with Malo Gusto in place of Reece.
But in case Poch sees Caicedo as ready to take the pitch and go back to the 4-2-3-1 instead of the 3-4-3 formation used last weekend, it should be interesting to see who takes the central attacking midfield role. Both Conor Gallagher and Carney Chukwuemeka can fill the role, and Conor put on a great display from central midfield against Liverpool when playing in advanced positions.
View from the enemy: Brace the Hammer
: A very different Chelsea team gets the lead with an amazing Enzo Fernández assist to João Félix, only to see Emerson Palmieri claim “the law of the ex” on us to tie at 1-1 in the first half. At the end of the match Tomas Soucek would score to complete the Hammers’ comeback, but his goal was rightfully cancelled by VAR.
