Chelsea welcomes West Ham United to Stamford Bridge in Monday Night Football, as this weekend’s Premier League action wraps up.
After Arsenal’s defeat to Everton on Sunday, Chelsea can move up into third with victory here.
West Ham meanwhile cannot afford to drop any points here otherwise their top seven hopes will be all but over.
Team news
Chelsea could have Marcos Alonso and Ruben Loftus-Cheek available after the pair recovered from hamstring injuries.
Pedro is also expected to be fit after battling a muscular issue.
Marco van Ginkel (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and Ethan Ampadu (back) are both still ruled out for the foreseeable future.
West Ham are set to welcome a host of players back from various injuries for the short trip to Stamford Bridge.
Ryan Fredricks is available after recovering from a knock whilst Marko Arnautovic (knee), Felipe Anderson (ankle) and Samir Nasri (calf) are all fit and expected to return to the starting lineup.
Winston Reid and Carlos Sanchez remain sidelined with knee injuries and won’t be back until next season alongside Andriy Yarmolenko, who won’t be risked during the run-in despite stepping up his rehabilitation in recent weeks.
Andy Carroll remains a huge doubt for rest of this season with an ankle injury but Jack Wilshire could return from a similar issue for the Hammers’ final two matches against Southampton and Watford.
Form
Chelsea enter this game off the back of consecutive league wins in the past week but have won just two of their last six away games.
West Ham meanwhile have been consistent with three wins and defeats from their last six, although those two losses all came on their travels as part of a six match winless away run since beating Southampton just after Christmas.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have won just one of their last five meetings with West Ham across all competitions (W1, D2, L2).
- This is Chelsea’s first Monday Night Football of the season, whereas West Ham have already played once in this slot, drawing 1-1 at home to Liverpool in February.
- West Ham have lost their last three away games without scoring.
- Chelsea have kept clean sheets in three of their last four home games, only conceding in a 1-1 draw with Wolves.
- Both Kepa Arrizabalaga of Chelsea and West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski have saved one penalty each this season.
Prediction
It’s difficult to say which Chelsea side might turn up because they were poor at Cardiff yet comfortably dispatched Brighton in midweek.
West Ham meanwhile need to improve on their last outing because they didn’t even turn up against a ruthless Everton side, who could of produced a thumping if it wasn’t for Fabianski.
I am therefore expecting a scrappy game here but Chelsea will just find a way through.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-0 West Ham United
Jake predicts: Chelsea 2-0 West Ham United