West Ham vs Chelsea – Match Preview

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The doom and gloom has been lifted in East London as West Ham are not only off the mark, but they also have lifted themselves out of the bottom three thanks to a very impressive win over Everton last Sunday.

After four straight defeats for the Hammers it is fair to say that the knives were circling around manager Manuel Pellegrini who was bought into replace former incumbent David Moyes in the off season.

A decision that many were beginning to question as it seemed that the club had taken something of a backward step under the former Manchester City boss. However, their first points of the season have all of a sudden given West Ham a new lease of life.

And it was a win that they really did need when you consider the next couple of fixtures that they have on the horizon. Manchester United lie in wait next week, but this Sunday is no easier as they welcome league leaders Chelsea.

Chances are that Chelsea won’t be top of the table come kick off as they play a day after both Liverpool and Manchester City, but they will certainly have their perfect start intact as they make the short trip across the capital.

Maurizio Sarri’s side eventually made light work of Cardiff last Saturday even if they were given something of an early scare. That came courtesy of an early Sol Bamba goal that silenced Stamford Bridge.

The defender may have been an unlikely hero to start with, but he would eventually become the villain as he deflected home one of Chelsea’s goals before then giving away a penalty that led to another.

That was just a small blip on what was a near perfect performance for the Blues as they racked up a fifth successive Premier League win this season and they will be confident of making it six at the London Stadium this weekend.

It’s been a relatively quick revolution for Chelsea under new boss Sarri and what makes it all the more impressive is that they have done it with pretty much the same squad that limped to fifth place last season.

Bar the additions of Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho in the Summer it is the same group of players that Antonio Conte worked with in the previous two campaigns, something that shows that either they weren’t trying last time around, or the former boss had lost interest himself.

Perhaps it is a fault that lied somewhere between the two, but now it is one that has been easily remedied by the new man in charge. That said, if Chelsea are to win on Sunday, they will have to do a lot better than last season as they lost here last December.

In one of David Moyes first matches in charge he deployed Austrian international Marko Arnautovic up front and it is a masterstroke that worked perfectly as he scored the game’s only goal after just 6 minutes.

And Arnautovic was also on the scoresheet last weekend in the away win over Everton, therefore he will be looking to continue that momentum when the high-flying Blues come to town. He along with new signing Andriy Yarmolenko caused multiple headaches for Everton at Goodison Park last week.

And if West Ham are to get anything out of the game then those two are going to need to be at their absolute best this weekend. That said this Chelsea side has been picture perfect so far and will be keen favourites to extend their 100% start with an away win.