Chelsea welcome London rivals West Ham United to Stamford Bridge on Monday night, with just one point separating the two sides in the Premier League table.
The Blues find themselves sixth on 22 points, while seventh-place West Ham sit one point and one place below.
Ahead of our clash against West Ham United on Monday, we've picked out this bit of magic out from the archives 💙Lamps + Didier = Only one outcome 🔥#CHEWHU pic.twitter.com/A1ExlpyxhF— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 17, 2020
Ahead of our clash against West Ham United on Monday, we've picked out this bit of magic out from the archives 💙Lamps + Didier = Only one outcome 🔥#CHEWHU pic.twitter.com/A1ExlpyxhF
After losing just one of their opening 11 league matches this term, Chelsea now head into Matchday 14 on the back of consecutive defeats.
Frank Lampard’s side lost 1-0 to Everton last weekend, before suffering a 2-1 defeat against Wolves in midweek.
Olivier Giroud gave Chelsea the lead early in the second half on Tuesday, yet goals from Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto saw the Blues throw away the points.
Chelsea enjoyed the lion’s share of possessing (55%) and shots (13) at Molineux, but they eventually came away with nothing to show for their efforts.
Still, the Blues remain just six points shy of first-place Liverpool. It is important to remember that the Premier League table is very congested at the moment.
Meanwhile, West Ham have won four of their previous six league outings, with just one defeat coming during that period.
Victories over Fulham, Sheffield United, Aston Villa and Leeds United have kept the Hammers in the hunt for a European place.
However, David Moyes’ men were forced to settle for a draw last time out, despite playing the final 20 minutes of their meeting with Crystal Palace against ten men.
Christian Benteke gave Palace the lead before being sent off in the second half. Sebastien Haller snatched an equaliser for the Hammers.
Having narrowly avoided relegation last term, it’s fair to say that West Ham have made an excellent start to the 2020/21 campaign.
Head-to-head: West Ham did the double over Chelsea last season, winning 1-0 at Stamford Bridge before winning 3-2 at home.
However, Chelsea has only lost one of their previous five meetings with West Ham prior to the previous campaign.
Team news: Chelsea are waiting on the fitness of Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi as the pair recover from injury.
Fabian Balbuena, Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio are all doubts for West Ham, while Arthur Masuaku is a certain absentee.
Following back-to-back defeats, Frank Lampard will be eager for his side to return to winning ways on Monday.
West Ham will put up a decent fight, but Forebet predicts that Chelsea’s forward line will be too strong for the Hammers to deal with. Over 3.5 match goals are expected here.