On Saturday afternoon, cross-city rivals West Ham United and Chelsea clash in the Premier League’s early kick-off at the London Stadium.
Ninth-placed Chelsea find themselves two just points inside the top half of the Premier League table, with a 10-point gap between them and the Champions League places.
Meanwhile, seventeenth-placed West Ham sit a solitary point outside the relegation zone and 11 points shy of Chelsea. Can they close the gap this weekend?
The Hammers have only managed to win five of their 21 Premier League games this season, recording four draws and 12 losses along the way.
Only bottom club Southampton have suffered more defeats than David Moyes’ men this term, while only four sides have scored fewer goals West Ham’s 18.
In recent times, the Hammers have lost six of their previous nine Premier League outings, with a damaging five-game losing run coming between October and December.
Although Moyes’ side managed to hold Champions League-chasing Newcastle United to a 1-1 draw last time out, they remain in a perilous position.
As for Chelsea, they were held to a draw by Fulham last time out – meaning they head into Saturday’s clash on the back of successive goalless draws.
Not only have the Blues managed to win just one of their last six Premier League matches, but they have also managed to win two of their previous 12.
It is worth noting, however, that only two sides have a better defensive record than Chelsea, as Graham Potters’ men have conceded 21 goals this term.
Of course, Potter won’t find it easy to gel his new-look squad of stars, but he has plenty of top-class players at his disposal.
Head-to-head: Chelsea have won four of their last five Premier League games against West Ham, keeping a clean sheet on three occasions in that time.
Since the Hammers have managed to win just four of their previous 14 league meetings with the Blues, the hosts will struggle to get anything from Saturday’s encounter.
Team news: West Ham are currently without a number of key players due to injury, with Kurt Zouma, Maxwel Cornet, Alphonse Areola and Thilo Kehrer on the sidelines.
Chelsea also have numerous injury absentees, including Edouard Mendy, Denis Zakaria, Wesley Fofana, N’Golo Kante, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja.
Granted, Chelsea have not been at their best of late, but they shouldn’t struggle to overcome relegation-threatened West Ham.
Forebet predicts that Chelsea will score over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to dispatching the Hammers.
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