Chelsea Match Preview

David Moyes has had a good previous record when facing Chelsea in Stratford and he will be looking to get off to a good start in 2023/24. West Ham United play their first home game of the new campaign this afternoon and they couldn’t have asked for a much tougher fixture as Mauricio Pochettino brings the Blues to East London.

The Hammers go into this encounter in thirteenth place in the Premier League table and having picked up a point at AFC Bournemouth eight days ago, Moyes will be hoping to see his side build on that result and move up the table.

With the money that the Stamford Bridge hierarchy have spent this summer, it probably wasn’t the start they were looking for either, as both they and Pochettino saw their side come from behind to draw 1-1 at home to Liverpool a week ago and having overseen another two arrivals at the start of the week, there is further expectation on the former Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur boss to deliver results.

Whilst the visitors will be hoping for a better outcome than the one achieved against the Reds, you can’t rule out the Hammers!!! They have had one extra day’s preparation and the visitors will also be mindful of the fact that they are in action again in just five days time when they play host to newly-promoted Luton Town.

This will be the third game in succession that Chelsea have had a new management team in place when facing the Irons. Last season, they were under the guidance of both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.

The home side were denied a 2-1 win in this fixture last season, as a VAR decision meant that Tomáš Souček’s late goal was ruled out for an apparent handball. Here’s hoping that they can go one better and claim all three points this time around. In fact,
Chelsea’s last win here was on 26 April 2021 and the hosts will be hopeful of extending that run.

Edson Álvarez has now had a full week to train with his new teammates, meaning both he and fellow new signing James Ward-Prowse are expected to slot straight into the midfield.

Danny Ings showed further examples of what he can do when he was introduced from the bench against the Cherries last time out and if Moyes decides to change formation, he could partner Michail Antonio upfront.
Angelo Ogbonna was an unused substitute at The Vitality Stadium and he could also be included in the starting line-up with Emmerson Palmieri likely to drop to the bench.

Moyes did spring a surprise in Dorset on the opening weekend when he opted to start Alphonse Areola in goal ahead of Łukasz Fabiański and it will be interesting to see if the Frenchman retains his place here.

The match is a 4:30pm kick-off with live coverage being screened by Sky Sports from 4pm. The referee is John Brooks.