West Ham United vs Chelsea. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance59,942.
West Ham likely to be without Aaron Cresswell; Jorginho and Reece James both fit for Chelsea; follow West Ham vs Chelsea in our dedicated live match blog; watch free match highlights on Sky Sports digital platforms and YouTube channel after full time.
Saturday 4 December 2021 09:31, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of West Ham vs Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 12.30pm.
West Ham are likely to still be without Aaron Cresswell for the visit of Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.
The left-back missed the draw with Brighton on Wednesday with a back problem but has returned to doing some light training. Angelo Ogbonna remains sidelined with a cruciate ligament injury.
Reece James and Jorginho have handed injury-hit Chelsea a double fitness boost.
England wing-back James has shaken off an ankle concern, while Jorginho is back to full fitness after a recent knock.
Chelsea still do not know the extent of Trevoh Chalobah's hamstring problem, but the defender will definitely miss Saturday's West Ham trip, while Mateo Kovacic (hamstring), N'Golo Kante (knock) and Ben Chilwell (knee) will also be absent this weekend.
Follow West Ham vs Chelsea in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel after full time.
Chelsea's chance creation numbers are enough of a negative from the past two games to put me off backing them in this one at odds-on. They've averaged about 1.2 non-penalty expected goals per game over the last 180 minutes of football against Manchester United and Watford. That's a little south of their usual 1.7 average under Thomas Tuchel.
Also, when you thrown in their clear overperformance in defence in relation to their expected goals data, it certainly opens the door for a consistently dangerous attack like West Ham to trouble the scorers. That makes the 4/5 on both teams scoring very appealing. The Hammers have scored in 21 of their last 24 matches across all competitions and 63 per cent of their games since the start of last season has seen both teams score - the second highest strike rate in the Premier League.
This might turn into a frustrating afternoon for Tuchel's men in forward areas with West Ham happy to defend in a low block and hit in their usual lightning style on the break. It's a tactic that works just fine for David Moyes. He can get a result and dent Chelsea's title bid.
SCORE PREDICTION: 1-1
BETTING ANGLE: Both teams to score (4/5 with Sky Bet)
Peter Smith is joined by Sky Sports News Midlands reporter Rob Dorsett, features writer Nick Wright and football journalist Oliver Yew to look ahead to the Premier League weekend.
PART 1 | Rob Dorsett discusses Steven Gerrard's impact at Aston Villa, the club's ambitious plans, and the reasons behind Leicester's underwhelming start to the season.
PART 2 | Nick Wright assesses the problems facing Rafa Benitez at Everton and what Mikel Arteta must do to get a misfiring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back in form.
PART 3 | Oliver Yew reflects on Bernardo Silva's brilliant performances for Manchester City, the strength in depth at Pep Guardiola's disposal, and whether there's a chance of an upset at Watford.