West Ham United V Chelsea

Sunday 20^th December – 16:00 GMT

West Ham United

League Position: 19th

Recent Form: DWLLL

West Ham’s fall from grace has took place in such a short space of time and has come with such a big impact. From the highs of a top ten finish last season to relegation beckoned this season, West Ham have quite literally gone from hero to zero status with the fans. Now, though, with no momentum and a group of players suffering in a lull of confidence, Gianfranco Zola must prepare his troops for a battle with table-topping Chelsea, what is a London derby.

The severity of West Ham’s plummet is evident in their poor league showing of 19^th position, aided by three defeats on the bounce. However, many are asking how a team can go from being a fairly solid and attractive outfit to down right awful and ugly. Well, after watching them on Tuesday night away at Bolton, it wasn’t hard to see where their main faults were… in defence. Their defending at The Reebok was hapless and laughable. There is a distinct lack of organisation, while England’s number one, Robert Green, is suffering at their expense as he clearly has no confidence at all with what’s in front of him.

Green’s goalkeeping displays in a West Ham shirt were earning him plaudits from all corners last season. However, the World Cup hopeful hasn’t been able to halt what is a dreadful run of conceding goals, with the Hammers shipping 14 goals in their last five outings in the league. However, what’s more alarming is the amount they’ve conceded against the top four this season, all at Upton Park. Liverpool (3-2), Arsenal (2-2) and Man Utd (0-4) have all found scoring a breeze at Upton Park this season. In fact, it won’t raise any eyebrows when you hear that West Ham currently have the joint worst home defensive record in the entire league, level on 19 goals conceded with Bolton Wanderers.

Wins have come at a premium for the Hammers this season, but Upton Park has been a happier setting, only just mind. Of the three wins West Ham have earned this season, two have come at Upton Park, with West Ham’s home form looking like this; 2-2-4. Those two victories have actually come fairly recently; a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at the beginning of November and a 5-3 win over Burnley at the end of November. However, West Ham failed to keep it clean and tidy at the back on both occasions and the Hammers haven’t kept a home clean sheet all season.

With West Ham’s defence the way it is, we can only see the three points going one way, and that’s not in the home sides direction. Their defending on the whole has been dreadful this season but it was hopeless on Tuesday, with even their usually reliable keeper, Robert Green, getting in on this calamity act of theirs. The confidence in the West Ham camp will be at an alarming low, whilst the thought of facing Chelsea coming to town will leave the players in despair. We expect a lively atmosphere… but an away win will only end lead to sorrow for the home supporters.

Chelsea

League Position: 1st

Recent Form: WWLDW

It was yet another unconvincing display from Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea but this time, unlike in their previous game, they did manage to grind out a win… an undeserved win we must add. However, with the bad performance aside, Carlo Ancelotti can now concentrate on building upon the success of Wednesday night by making it two wins in quick succession as he takes his blues across London to Upton Park, a venue they nearly came a cropper at last season.

Chelsea did win their last encounter with West Ham 1-0 at Upton Park last season. West Ham gave as good as they got back then but, with the Hammers now lacking in confidence, there is no time like the present to play a team managed by a former Chelsea player, Gianfranco Zola. Chelsea have also enjoyed this fixture in the past, winning in their previous four visits to Upton Park and we don’t think Wednesday’s clash will end that run of victories.

Yet again, Chelsea were well below their usual best on Wednesday night in a game with Portsmouth that was expected to be a walk in the park for Ancelotti’s men. They certainly made hard work of what should have been an easy assignment as Portsmouth were, and still are, rock-bottom of the Premiership. However, Portsmouth gave it their all and they will feel hard done by not to have left Stamford Bridge with at least a point after causing Chelsea all sorts of problems at the back. An area where Chelsea have looked extremely vulnerable of late.

Chelsea’a defence will be the talking point ahead of this fixture and whether or not Carlo Ancelotti can resolve their apparent defensive issues before their trip to Upton Park. Against Everton, marking and organisation at set-plays was their problem, but Ancelotti appears to have sorted those issue. Now it’s their defence all round, with positioning, discipline and marking all a shambles in Wednesday nights 2-1 victory against a Portsmouth side with the worst away offensive record in the league. John Terry is the Chelsea skipper but his organisational skills have gone missing in recent weeks and Ancelotti will need his stalwart to bark orders into that shaky defence on Saturday in order to avoid another embarrassing defensive display.

Away from home is where Chelsea have been more vulnerable this season, and where all three of their defeats thus far have come. Their away record currently stands at 5-0-3, and their confidence will have taken a knock after faltering in their previous away fixture – a 2-1 defeat at Man City. However, before that they were busy smashing Arsenal off the park but, the very first time Chelsea lost on the road this season they followed it up with a defeat in their next away outing. Will lighting strike twice at Upton Park?

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

West Ham United W: 2 Chelsea W: 7 Draws: 1

Chelsea fans should be supremely confident after taking a look at the h2h record between the two, with Chelsea winning seven of the last ten meetings. At Upton Park, Chelsea have won four out of five and have won on their previous four visits, two of which were to NIL. Last season, though, was the first time that Chelsea were restricted to just the one goal, winning 1-0, when in their previous three victories at Upton Park, they had won by at least a two goal cushion, scoring 3,4,4.

West Ham’s only success in this fixture came almost eight years ago in a 1-0 success, Paulo Di Canio, of all people, scoring the winner. Also, if you’re considering backing a West Ham goalscorer, only strikers have got on the score sheet for the Hammers in previous meetings at Upton Park, with Carlos Tevez, a player who scored City’s winner against Chelsea a fortnight ago,m scoring West Ham’s last goal in this fixture.

Match Verdict: Chelsea to WIN – 1.44 SkyBet

We wouldn’t like to say this will be a walk in the park, especially after watching Chelsea’ attempt at defending on Wednesday night, but West Ham have been scarce of form all season and this looks far too big a step up for them. Chelsea, though, have seen their lead at the top cut down weak-by-week and the pressure is now on them to go on a winning run and a fixture with second bottom West Ham provides them with an ideal opportunity to start. If they can get their defensive issues resolved then they really shouldn’t have too many problems as we can’t see Chelsea not scoring at least a couple against an even poorer defensive outfit.

Match Odds:

West Ham United – 8.50 Bet365

Draw – 4.60 WilliamHill

Chelsea – 1.44 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Chelsea to Score Exactly 3 goals – 4.60 WilliamHill