Chelsea vs West Ham United 09/04/19

9 April 2019

Weekend’s Premier League action concludes with the London derby at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea take on an unpredictable West Ham United side.

The hosts have bounced back after two straight failures (D1, L1) as they go into this meeting off the back of back-to-back Premier League wins that have both seen them score 2+ match goals. Sitting fifth in the table, the Blues can’t afford a failure here if they want to return to the Champions League, and their recent home form certainly backs Maurizio Sarri’s hopes of wrapping up all three points. Unbeaten at home in the Premier League in 2019 (W4, D2), the Pensioners now look to stretch an outstanding 13-game home unbeaten run against the Hammers across all competitions (W9, D4). Four clean sheets and just two conceded goals in their previous six PL home outings helped Chelsea to continue to boast league’s joint-best defensive home record – 10 goals conceded in 16 PL home games.

Meanwhile, three wins and three defeats in their last six PL clashes sums up West Ham’s tumultuous league campaign. Nonetheless, sitting 11th in the table, the visitors can still reach promotion to Europe as they currently trail seventh-placed Leicester City by five points with six league fixtures left to go. The Irons’ main problem here, however, will be a disastrous road form that has seen them lose five of their previous six PL away games (D1, L5), allowing over 1.5 goals per match across those failures while struggling to hit the net in each. Another potential worry for Manuel Pellegrini could be the Hammers’ dreadful away performances against the PL’s top-five sides, given they’ve lost all three of their H2Hs with the PL’s elite on the road, conceding eight goals while bagging just one in the process.