As Rafa Benitez looks forward to earning a precious win since his controversial interim appointment barely two weeks ago to the highly volatile position of Chelsea manager, he will be spurred by a reminder that if they fail to win for a seventh game in succession, it will be their worst sequence since Jan-Feb 1995 – a record no manager worth his onions will like to hold.
However, on a brighter note, Chelsea have kept successive clean sheets for the first time since September and they are unbeaten in their last 10 London derbies. The West Ham game should be a piece-meal for the Stamford Bridge side if they get their acts right this afternoon especially as the Hammers forward man, Andy Carroll, is a doubt.
Sam Allardyce will be welcoming back midfielder Mark Noble who was suspended for picking up five bookings this season already. Andy Carroll who has a slight knee problem, will be assessed before kick off to determine his inclusion in the team.
Chelsea will go into today’s match with the likelihood of Fernando Torres leading the attack once more despite failing to find the back of the net in as many matches. Brazilian defender, David Luiz will be seeing out a suspension after picking up his fifth domestic booking of the season. John Terry, Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge are also a huge doubt for the match.
Our Prediction:
West Ham 1:2 Chelsea
Other Fixtures In The EPL Week 15
West Ham v. Chelsea 1:45pm
Arsenal v. Swansea 4:00pm
Fulham v. Tottenham 4:00pm
Liverpool v. Southampton 4:00pm
Manchester City v. Everton 4:00pm
QPR v. Aston Villa 4:00pm
West Brom v. Stokes 4:00pm
Reading v. Manchester United 6:30pm
