Paul Merson predicts result of London derby clash between West Ham United and Chelsea
Paul Merson has predicted West Ham to come up short in a “massive game” against Chelsea despite admitting they will give them a test.
Although the visitors to the London Stadium on Saturday (11 February) have scored just three goals in 2023 while playing seven matches across all competitions the Sky Sports pundit feels they will have too much in attack.
West Ham came back from a goal down to record a creditable draw at Champions League-chasing Newcastle last week (4 February) so have shown they have enough to get a result against ninth-placed Chelsea, but Merson has tipped them to lose 2-1 at home.
Writing in his predictions column for Sportskeeda Merson said: “This is a massive game for both teams. You’d like to think that Chelsea will get better with an extra bit of work this week. They were a bit hit-and-miss last week, and it might take a bit of time for them to get it right with the amount of talent they have.
“I thought West Ham played well against Newcastle. When they went down by a goal against Newcastle, I thought it would be a cricket score. They managed to turn it around on the day and could give Chelsea a hard game this week.
“This is a new Chelsea team, and Graham Potter has not had long to work with them. There are no excuses this weekend – this is a big game for the club and the supporters. We’re in February now, and I can’t tell you Chelsea’s team this weekend – I’d be thrilled if I get seven players right. They’ve had a bit of a stop-start season.
“This is a hard game to call, but I’m going to go with Chelsea. They’ll have Joao Felix back for this game, and they might have too much for West Ham going forward.”
Overlooked
All the focus is on Potter and his expensively-assembled squad at the moment, and that shows in how much attention Merson has given them in his prediction.
Based on the fact that the Irons are still barely clear of the relegation zone their chances might be considered slim, but Chelsea are in far more disarray than Newcastle are this season and West Ham went to the North-East and got a result last week.
Back in front of the home fans for a London derby is a whole different matter, and with the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta showing signs of finding some form there is no reason why Moyes can’t get a result.
The Hammers boss has won three of his eight Premier League meetings with Chelsea across two spells with the club, drawing another, while seeing the last two losses at Stamford Bridge come thanks to a 90th-minute winner against 10 men and a Maxwel Cornet strike dubiously being disallowed.
So he has shown he can more than hold his own, and after putting together a three-match unbeaten run in all competitions there is good reason to be hopeful heading into this one.
And a second positive result from the bruising three-game stretch of Newcastle, Chelsea and Tottenham would finally put a highly-belated revival on the cards.