Premier League: Chelsea are Within Arm’s Length of Europe

Chelsea vs West Ham United

Chelsea can make a beeline towards a European berth for next season because they’ve improved their form in the Premier League in recent weeks. Mauricio Pochettino’s men have moved up to eighth place in the standings and are undefeated in their last two.

With 51 points, the Blues are only trailing by three points to sixth-seeded Manchester United, and a weekend win over West Ham United would certainly do them favours.

The opposite can be said for West Ham United, who are currently in ninth place after a stretch of lacklustre Premier League 2024 results. David Moyes’ boys are in dire need of a win on Sunday to keep their European hopes alive.

Which team do you think will prevail in this weekend’s West London matchup? Learn more about these two teams in today’s SBOTOP preview.

Talking Points

Who’s available for Chelsea?

This question has been the recurring theme for Chelsea because they’ve had the injury blues all season long, and it seems that it will continue to get worse before it gets better for them.

Enzo Fernandez, Thiago Silva, and Axel Disasi were the newest additions to the team’s injury list. Fernandez is confirmed out for the rest of the season because he underwent groin surgery, while Silva and Disasi had to be subbed off against Aston Villa on Sunday and were unable to play against Tottenham last night.

Silva and Disasi are unlikely to play against West Ham United on Sunday, so Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile should continue to man the centre-half for Chelsea.

On the bright side, Christopher Nkunku, Levi Colwill, and Reece James were all seen in training this week, and there’s a chance that they will make their returns as early as next week.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Mauricio Pochettino will likely deploy the same starting lineup that he had against the Spurs when they host the Hammers.

Top scorer Cole Palmer has been scoreless in their last four games across all competitions, and he has to get back on the scoresheet fast to extend the Blues’ undefeated streak.

West Ham United need help at the back

Since getting eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League quarter-finals, West Ham United have lost back-to-back to Fulham and Crystal Palace before sharing the spoils with Liverpool on Saturday.

The Hammers’ defencive frailties have been exposed lately because they have gone 15 Premier League matches without a clean sheet this season, with their last one being a 0-0 draw against Brighton in January, and that has to change.

The good news for West Ham United is that they have a much shorter injury list compared to Chelsea. However, their three injured players are all defenders, with centre-backs Nayef Aguerd and Konstantinos Mavropanos and defencive midfielder George Earthy listed as doubtful to play this weekend.

But on the other side of the pitch, Michail Antonio is in fine form, scoring three goals in his last three appearances.

History

West Ham United demolished Chelsea in the reverse fixture during the second matchday of the 2023-24 campaign, despite being reduced to 10 men.

Before he was sent off during the 67^th minute, Nayef Aguerd scored the first goal for the Hammers and was pegged back by Carney Chukwuemeka, but Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta added two more goals en route to the 3-1 home win.

If David Moyes’ men win again on Sunday, they’ll record just their third Premier League double over the Blues after previously doing so in 2002-03 and 2019-20.

But one reason why Chelsea fancy their chances this weekend is because they have lost just one of their last 17 Premier League games against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge (W12, D4) since a 1-0 defeat in November 2019.

Betting Tip

The updated Premier League 2024 odds are in favour of the hosts winning on Sunday. Chelsea are installed as 1.58 favourites, whereas West Ham United are 4.37 underdogs, and a draw is at 4.18 odds in the 1X2 market.

Because this fixture has yielded a bunch of goals in recent meetings, we believe that such a trend will continue this weekend, hence making bets like Over 3.25 at 1.82, Over 3.50 at 2.06, Total Goal 2-3 at 2.18, or even Total Goal 4-6 at 2.25 viable alternatives.

However, if you fancy the Hammers’ chances of completing a league double over the Blues, check out the Correct Score of 3-1 in their favour– the result of their earlier meeting this season – given its eye-popping offer of 38.00.

 

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