Advertisement

West Ham vs Chelsea - as it happened: Blues' winning streak brought to an end

The Hammers ended their miserable run of four straight league defeats with a 3-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park, largely thanks to two goals from Andriy Yarmolenko.

However, Manuel Pellegrini faces his toughest test yet with Chelsea looking to maintain their position at the top of the Premier League table.

The Blues, along with Liverpool, are the only side with a 100% record in the league in a run which has seen them beat Arsenal.

Maurizio Sarri’s side kept the momentum going in midweek with a 1-0 win over PAOK in the Europa League and will be confident of three more points here.

Follow the action below:


Please allow a moment for the blog to load

What time does it start?

West Ham vs Chelsea kicks off at 1:30pm (BST)

Where can I watch it?

The match will be shown live on Sky Sports’ Premier League and Main Event channels. Sky Sports subscribers can also stream the match via the SkyGo app.

Highlights will be shown at 10:30pm on BBC One.

It’s a big game for…

Lukasz Fabianski – The Pole withstood a barrage of first-half attempts before Gylfi Sigurdsson opened the scoring last weekend. Manuel Pellegrini’s side ran out eventual 3-1 winners at Goodison Park but his side are likely to face more of what they faced in the first 45 minutes with the visit of Manchester United following Sunday’s fixture. The Hammers will need the former Arsenal keeper to be at his best if they are to build upon their success on Merseyside.

Best stat…

Three: Maurizio Sarri could become just the third head coach or manager to win his first six league matches in charge. Victory over West Ham would see the Italian join fellow countryman Carlo Ancelotti, who replaced the 59-year-old at Napoli in the summer, and Pep Guardiola in achieving the feat.

Remember when…

It was a game that sadly had a fairly ugly ending as objects were launched between rival supporters, but Edimilson Fernandes’ superb strike should have been the main talking point from West Ham’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the fourth round of the 2017 League Cup. The 22-year-old midfielder added to Cheikhou Kouyate’s header with a stunning left-foot strike from 18 yards, before Gary Cahill swept home an injury-time consolation.

Player to watch…

Olivier Giroud – Eden Hazard may have received all the plaudits in Chelsea’s emphatic 4-1 win over Cardiff City, and rightly so, but you cannot help but feel that the Frenchman has more than adequately contributed to the Belgian’s form this season. The former Arsenal striker has not been as severely challenged as expected by Alvaro Morata but his link-up play with Hazard is something the Spaniard hasn’t offered in his career at Stamford Bridge. If he can add a few goals of his own, Chelsea will feel confident of maintaining their current position.

Will Olivier Giroud get the nod ahead of Alvaro Morata (AFP/Getty Images)
Will Olivier Giroud get the nod ahead of Alvaro Morata (AFP/Getty Images)

Past three-meetings…

Chelsea 1 (Azpilicueta) West Ham 1 (Hernandez), Premier League, April 2018

West Ham 1 (Arnautovic) Chelsea 0, Premier League, December 2017

West Ham 1 (Lanzini) Chelsea 2 (Hazard, Costa), Premier League, March 2017

Form guide…

West Ham: LLLWLW

Cheslsea: WWWWWW

Odds…

West Ham to win: 21/4

Chelsea to win: 13/25

Draw: 10/3