Cole out, Bertrand in? West Ham v Chelsea: Predicted line-ups and stats preview

West Ham United – Chelsea

Date: Saturday, November 23, 2013

Venue: Upton Park

KO: 17:30

Sam Allardyce’s West Ham will welcome Chelsea to Upton Park for Saturday evening’s live Premier League clash as Jose Mourinho’s men look overcome their recent poor form.

The Blues drew with West Bromwich Albion last time out and lost to Newcastle United before that, heaping pressure on the manager to overturn a bad run of results with a win this weekend.

The hosts are also in a rut, having failed to win in the four games since their stunning 3-0 demolition of Tottenham, and have failed to score in six of 11 games so far.

Team News

West Ham United

Joey O’Brien and James Collins are both expected to overcome their hamstring injuries in time for the clash, but Razvan Rat (hamstring), Mladen Petric (calf), Winston Reid (ankle), Matt Taylor (calf), Ricardo Vaz Te (shoulder), Andy Carroll (ankle) and Alou Diarra (knee) are all on the long-term injury list.

Chelsea

The Blues expect Fernando Torres to make a successful return from a thigh problem, while Ashley Cole is a major doubt with damaged ribs. Marco van Ginkel continues to recover from a knee injury that has ruled him out for the season.

Predicted Line-ups

West Ham United

Collins and Tomkins are expected to continue at the heart of the Hammers defence after Reid’s injury while Mohamed Diame could make a return to the lineup in place of Jack Collison.

Allardyce will also have to make a decision on his lone striker, with Kevin Nolan deputising of late due to their injury crisis leaving them without a recognised striker.

Chelsea

Ashley Cole looks set to be the only major absentee from Mourinho’s side, with Ryan Bertrand ready to step in at left-back. Otherwise, Chelsea should be unchanged.

Recent Form

Chelsea have taken ten points from their last five games with three wins, but have crumbled to a disappointing 2-0 loss to Newcastle United which was then followed by a 2-2 draw against West Brom.

West Ham have just one win from the last five – their sensational 3-0 win over Spurs – and have lost two and drawn two since, including two goalless draws.

Players to Watch

West Ham United – Jussi Jaaskelainen

The Hammers will be relying on their goalkeeper to keep out Chelsea’s multi-talented attack in the absence of key defender Winston Reid. The custodian will be integral to their chances of taking at least a point from this fixture.

The Finnish star currently has an average of 2.82 saves per game and 2.82 saves per goal so far in this Premier League campaign, highlighting his stopping prowess.

Chelsea – Eden Hazard

Hazard has come into a bit of form of late, with four goals in his last five games, and will be eagerly anticipating the opportunity to run at Guy Demel at right-back.

A 27.6 per cent conversion rate suggests that if the Belgian gets a few opportunities to shoot, the hosts may well regret giving him the space to do so.

Prediction

A West Ham side without their best performer in Winston Reid and struggling to score goals won’t pose much of a threat to Jose Mourinho’s men.

Indeed, it looks to be a question of just how many Chelsea can score against the Hammers. But Allardyce’s side did spring a surprise against Spurs so Chelsea shouldn’t dismiss their threat out of hand.

West Ham 0-2 Chelsea