West Ham – Chelsea 22.11.2013

West Ham welcome Chelsea in the London derby on day 12 of the new Premier League campaign.

The Blues face a must-win situation at Boleyn Ground as they have not made a fine start to the new season.

Following a tenth-place finish last season, West Ham United have not made a bright start to the new Premier League campaign. The Hammers are sitting in the dangerous zone ahead of the clash against local rivals Chelsea and they are on a four-match winless run at the moment. The team’s key player from the last season Andy Carrol has yet to make his West Ham debut this term as he has been out of contention with injury. To make things even worse, the other important striker Carlton Cole has been also sidelined through injury, but he could make his return against the Blues on Saturday night. The best performance this season Sam Allardyce’s men produced in the other local derby, against Tottenham Hotspur when they recorded a shocking 3-0 victory at White Hart Lane. Given that injury-plagued hosts have been struggling to find their form in recent weeks, I am not tempted to back them to win the London derby at Boleyn Ground.

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Even though Chelsea failed to impress on Jose Mourinho’s return to the Premier League, the Blues are still in the race for the title as they are just four points adrift of Arsenal ahead of the West Ham United match. Chelsea were more than fortunate to avoid defeat at the weekend as they were awarded a comical penalty in the dying minutes of the match against WBA (2-2). The Blues now need to return to the winning ways in the national championship and the match against their neighbours West Ham United, who head into the derby plagued by injuries, is the ideal opportunities for Jose Mourinho’s men to do so. Chelsea have not been impressive on the travels this term, with the team winning just one away fixture so far, but I believe that the time has come for the Blues to taste an away victory. A man to watch in the away side will be Belgian midfielder Eden Hazard.