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Chelsea and West Ham United lock horns in what promises to be an intriguing London derby at Stamford Bridge. Frank Lampard's side are coming on the back of successive defeats against Everton and Wolves in the Premier League and will look to return to winning ways to get their title challenge back on track.
West Ham United, on the other hand, have exceeded expectations this season. The Hammers have proved to be a tough nut to crack and can leapfrog Chelsea with a victory later today. David Moyes has steadied the ship at the London Stadium this season and has finally built a team that is capable of delivering the goods consistently.
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The same can't be said about Chelsea, who have blown hot and cold this season after a massive outlay in excess of £200 million in the summer. Speaking to the media ahead of the game, Lampard dismissed suggestions that the Blues are in the title race and admitted that they need more time to hit their stride.
"Everyone was talking about us going on a great run and we should win the league. Part of my reasoning to dampen that was other teams have probably been together longer and built for longer which builds confidence within the group of players that they can deal with things better in games."
"Part of where our progression is that where we have some younger players and newer players, and I think as times goes on, they will definitely get stronger in those moments.”
Chelsea will look to bounce back after successive Premier League defeats
Chelsea's previous league outing was an eventful one, as they were downed 2-1 by Wolves at the Molineux. Olivier Giroud put the Blues ahead, but Nuno Espirito Santo's men rallied back and completed a stunning comeback in the second half.
After Daniel Podence had scored the equalizer, Chelsea pushed up in the dying minutes of the game to grab a late winner. Wolves, meanwhile, nicked the ball back and did so themselves, as Pedro Neto's stunning strike secured them all three points at home.
West Ham are no pushovers, but Chelsea have enough quality in their squad to prevent the rot and record a positive result.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 West Ham United
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