Chelsea Vs West Ham Premier League Football Match Score 2023
Chelsea and West Ham go head to head in a west meets east London derby at the weekend. Graham Potter’s Blues are in desperate need of points, having drawn each of their last two Premier League games and only won two of 11 in all competitions stretching back to early November.
West Ham, meanwhile, have had a poor season by the recent standars they have set for themselves, but have at least seen improvements to results over the last few weeks.
Hammers boss David Moyes continues to be without Kurt Zouma, Maxwel Cornet and Gianluca Scamacca. Thilo Kehrer is a major doubt after comign off against Newcastle last time out. Alphonse Areola is likley to remain sidelined, although wouldn’t have started anyway. Joao Felix is eligible to return following completion of a three-match ban dished out for the red he received less than an hour into his Chelsea debut last month.
Illness forced Mykhailo Mudryk off at half-time last week, but he should be okay here. N’Golo Kante, Christian Pulisic, Edouard Mendy, Armando Broja and Denis Zakaria all remain sidelined. Wesley Fofana is stepping up his training workload but may not be involved just yet, although Mateo Kovacic could be ready to come back in.
Chelsea are in danger of finishing the weekend in the bottom half of the Premier League if results really don’t go their way. It has also been on concern that the Blues haven’t even scored in either of their last two outings against Liverpool and Fulham.
Another week to work under Graham Potter will have had its benefit as both he and the new players get to grips with each other. But an improving West Ham probably isn’t the place to go to return to winning ways and a draw feels a more plausible result.
The Blues travel across London to face West Ham on Saturday lunchtime in the knowledge that defeat and others results going against them could mean unthinkably dropping into the bottom half of the table by the end of the weekend.
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga – Although the team has struggled to score goals of late, the Spaniard is going for a fourth successive Premier League clean sheet. RB: Reece James – The Fulham draw was his first start of 2023, managing an hour. Would hope to get more minutes under his belt here.
CB: Benoit Badiashile – Looked solid against Fulham and will only get better the more he plays alongside an experienced veteran like Thiago Silva.
CB: Thiago Silva – Age is but a number for the outstanding Brazilian. He will be 39 in September but is close to extending his contract for another season. LB: Marc Cucurella – Will have renewed competition for his place following the return from injury of Ben Chilwell, but likely to keep getting the nod for now. CM: Conor Gallagher – Chelsea fnas will hope to see a home-grown player lead by example in what is expected to be a tense London derby.
CM: Enzo Fernandez – Made an impressive start to his Chelsea career less than three days after arriving at the club and will hope with more time to settle he can kick on even more. CM: Mason Mount – Only one goal involvement in his last 11 Premier League appearances isn’t an ideal return, especially with increasing competition for places.
RW: Noni Madueke – Impressed Chelsea fans with his debut off the bench last week and has given himself a strong chance of getting a first start.
ST: Kai Havertz – Potters lacks alternatives up in the ‘number nine’ role, although David Datro Fofana had a decent cameo against Fulham and Joao Felix is now back from suspension.
LW: Mykhailo Mudryk – Ended up coming off after just 45 minutes on his full Chelsea debut because of illness. Has pace to burn so will look to stretch West Ham. Chelsea are back in Premier League action this weekend as they make the short trip to West Ham United and the Blues are set to be boosted by the return of Joao Felix Chelsea will be looking to end their run of two goalless draws on the bounce on Saturday afternoon as they travel to West Ham United in the Premier League.
A new-look Blues side took on Fulham on Friday evening at Stamford Bridge but were unable to break their west London rivals down in what turned out to be a goalless stalemate. The likes of Enzo Fernandez and Noni Madueke made their debuts for Chelsea on the night but despite both impressing, Graham Potter could not guide his side to three points at the Bridge.
It was, as mentioned, a new-look team for Chelsea but they were still lacking the same issue in front of goal. After the game, Potter agreed with that and admitted him and his players need to do more in an attacking sense. “A lot of positivity and good feeling,” the Chelsea head coach explained to reporters after the draw. “Certainly from the start of the game, I thought the crowd helped with that as well but within the team there was a good feeling.
“I agree. I think we didn’t do enough in terms of our attacking play to create more which is something we can do.”
Potter, however, will be boosted this weekend with one of Chelsea’s most creative players in Joao Felix expected to return to the squad for the trip to West Ham. Felix, who joined on a six-month loan deal from Atletico Madrid in January, is due to return from a three-match suspension.
The 23-year-old was shown a straight red card last month after a challenge on Fulham’s Kenny Tete. Felix impressed on his Chelsea debut up until the horror tackle and with his return now just days away, plenty of Blues supporters are ecstatic about the prospect of him lining up for the side once again.
On the aforementioned evening at Craven Cottage, Felix and Havertz combined brilliantly and looked a real threat in west London. The two were virtually playing alongside each other on that night, but if Felix was a tad deeper than Havertz this time around, it theoretically would work just as well.
Chelsea’s two new wingers in Mykhailo Mudryk and Madueke could also make their first start together. Mudryk was unable to impress against Fulham last week but it’s understandable given his lack of football in recent months.
The Ukrainian has undoubted talent and his threat on the counter-attack versus West Ham could cause the Hammers some real issues and make David Moyes think twice about demanding his full-backs to attack. Likewise with Madueke, who did show glimpses of why Chelsea signed him for £35million when making his debut last week.
Fernandez made his debut on Friday as well and the Argentina international really caught the eye at Stamford Bridge, so he is expected to retain his place in the XI. Chelsea are fairly short of midfield options at the moment, so Conor Gallagher could keep his place alongside Fernandez.
There could also be a place in the starting XI for Ben Chilwell, who returned to action against Fulham after months on the sidelines through injury. The England left-back could deputise for Marc Cucurella on the left-hand side of defence.
