Aaron Cresswell to miss out, Lucas Paqueta to make debut – West Ham predicted XI v Chelsea
West Ham look to get another positive result in a London derby when they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.
The Hammers have bounced back from three consecutive defeats to open the season with a win over Aston Villa and a draw agains high-flying Tottenham, but now take on big spenders Chelsea in a game that has great importance.
But with a few injury doubts and a short turn around between games, David Moyes has some decisions to make with his starting lineup.
In goal we’ll almost certainly see no change, with Lukasz Fabianski the number one keeper at the club for the Premier League ahead of Alphonse Areola again.
Ben Johnson has been ruled out of the game and action for a few weeks, which should see Czech international Vladimir Coufal continue at right-back while Emerson Palmieri should come in for Aaron Cresswell who is struggling with a groin injury.
At centre-back the club pulled the plug on a £5.25m move for Craig Dawson to Wolves, but he is unlikely to be available as he continues to recover from injury. Summer signing Thilo Kehrer had a fantastic performance against Spurs and should continue at the heart of the defence alongside Kurt Zouma.
The midfield pivot wasn’t strengthened in the way that Moyes wanted it to be and with an admission that Flynn Downes isn’t quite ready for the Premier League yet, Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice will continue in the engine room of the team.
Further forward there are more options available to the boss, and plenty of players knocking on the door to stake a claim in the side.
Jarrod Bowen is almost certain to start on the right wing after another strong performance against Spurs, and with Gianluca Scamacca still suffering with illness having not trained all week Michail Antonio is likely to continue as the starting striker.
Maxwel Cornet is pushing for his first start in the Premier League, but the good form of Said Benrahma should see him retain his place on the left wing but there is space for club record signing Lucas Paqueta to make his full debut.
The Brazilian came on as a substitute against Spurs despite having not trained with his new teammates and showed some bright moments, and his quality in the final third could be essential to hurting the hosts and claiming points.
West Ham predicted XI v Chelsea: Fabianski; Coufal, Kehrer, Zouma, Emerson; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Paqueta, Benrahma; Antonio