Chelsea will look to secure a fifth consecutive win in all competitions on Saturday night as they welcome relegation-threatened West Ham United to Stamford Bridge in a London derby.
Liam Rosenior has won each of his opening two Premier League games in charge of Chelsea, as he saw his new side back up their 2-0 win over Brentford by going to Selhurst Park and running out comfortable 1-3 victors against an out-of-form Crystal Palace side.
That result moved the Blues up into fifth position in the Premier League table, just a point behind resurgent Manchester United in fourth.
Chelsea also sealed a top-eight finish in the league phase of the Champions League in midweek in impressive fashion, as they came from 2-1 down to defeat reigning Scudetto holders Napoli 2-3.
West Ham looked doomed for relegation following back-to-back damaging defeats away at rock-bottom Wolves and at home to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest.
However, Nuno’s men have shown some fight in the past couple of weeks, as they clinched a late 1-2 victory away to London rivals Spurs, before recording an impressive 3-1 win at home to newly-promoted Sunderland.
Nevertheless, the Hammers remain five points adrift of safety following Forest’s 0-2 win away at Brentford last Sunday.
How the bookies view it: Chelsea favourites
The bookies are expecting Liam Rosenior to record a fifth consecutive win in all competitions as Blues boss, with bet365 pricing a home success at just 1/2.
West Ham are 5/1 underdogs to record a third consecutive win in the Premier League, whilst the draw is 7/2.
Head to head: Four wins on the bounce for the Blues
Chelsea have won each of their past four meetings with the Hammers, including a 1-5 thrashing at the London Stadium in the reverse fixture back in August.
The Blues have also been victorious in each of their previous five Premier League meetings with West Ham at Stamford Bridge, with the Hammers’ last success at the Bridge coming in November 2019.
Players to watch: Pedro to pounce again?
Joao Pedro has scored in each of Chelsea’s last two Premier League victories at home to Brentford and away at Crystal Palace, as well as bagging a stunning brace in Naples against Napoli in the Champions League in midweek.
The Brazilian attacker also scored in the reverse fixture against the Hammers back in August, and I like the 13/10 on offer at bet365 for him to add to his 11-goal tally for Chelsea this season.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
Chelsea are still without the injured Levi Colwill, Tosin, Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia.
West Ham have a near full squad to choose from, as it appears veteran goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is the only player missing.
Chelsea: Sanchez, James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, Fernandez, Caicedo, Neto, Palmer, Estevao, Pedro
West Ham United: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Todibo, Scarles, Bowen, Fernandes, Soucek, Summerville, Pablo, Castellanos
Anything else catch the eye?
Liam Rosenior has made an impressive start to life as Chelsea boss, winning five of his opening six games in charge of the West London club, with their only loss coming in their League Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal.
The Blues have scored an impressive 16 goals across those six matches, but are still far from watertight at the back, and may struggle to keep out a West Ham attack that has scored eight times across their last five Premier League matches.
As alluded to, Chelsea do have an impressive record against the Hammers – particularly at Stamford Bridge – so I like the look of a Blues Win & Over 2.5 Goals, which pays 21/20 at Betfred.
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