Confirmed West Ham starting XI and team news v Chelsea
West Ham have made two changes to their starting XI for the crucial clash against Chelsea at the London Stadium on Saturday evening.
Craig Dawson is serving a suspension after his early dismissal against Newcastle United last week so Fabian Balbuena replaces him for his first Premier League start since December 27.
Ryan Fredericks also comes in from the cold after not making a league start since February 3 as he replaces Ben Johnson.
Confirmed on their official Twitter account prior to kick-off, the Irons are expected to line up with a five-man defence once again with Fredericks at left wing-back and Balbuena in the centre of defence.
Left-backs Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku were both ruled out of the trip to St James Park and they miss out again, but Jesse Lingard starts after hobbling off in that game.
Michail Antonio and Declan Rice remain key absentees from the squad.
Two for the price of one
Both sides are neck and neck on 55 points in the race for Champions League qualification, with the Blues ahead in fourth by virtue of goal difference.
A win for either team could have a devastating effect in terms of points and confidence with only five games remaining after this clash.
But a win would also act as sweet revenge for the Irons after we produced one of our poorest performances of the season in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, losing 3-0.
We failed to lay a glove on our London rivals, registering zero shots on target, and we were as toothless in attack as we were porous at the other end.
That defeat seemed to reinvigorate us as we embarked on an eight-game unbeaten streak which included five clean sheets.
A loss this time around, though, could have catastrophic consequences on our Champions League dreams, so we need to tighten up this time around and a draw would be a valuable point if victory cannot be attained.
In other West Ham news, Trevor Sinclair shares what he’s heard about Tammy Abraham amid Irons transfer speculation.
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