As we’ve seen so many times in recent years when Chelsea and West Ham meet, one of them is up near the top of the table, taking on all comers with a smile, while the other is in the bottom half, struggling to find any sort of consistent form. Business as usual, really.
Chelsea vs. West Ham 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online
West Ham have been doing a fair amount of giant-killing in their run to fourth place. Can they add struggling Chelsea to their list of successes?
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What do you mean, West Ham are the ones in fourth and Chelsea are in 12th? Well, that is different. It’s been a season of the surprising for the two London clubs, with Slaven Bilic leading a giant-killing revolution at West Ham. His team has already hammered down -- hammered? Get it? OK, moving on -- Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal, and are eagerly looking forward to adding Chelsea to their list of scalps. Their form has been a bit rocky since beating City, winning just one in four since then, but they’ve shown they have what it takes to tangle with the biggest teams around.
Chelsea, for their part, are eagerly trying to turn around their rough start, and an utter domination of Aston Villa last weekend will help that. They didn’t look nearly as effective in the Champions League, though, unable to break down Dynamo Kyiv in any meaningful way in a scoreless draw. They’ll need to be better than they were in that match -- and probably better than they were against Villa as well -- if they want to make sure to get all three points today. They normally shouldn’t be a problem for a team such as Chelsea, but this season, “shouldn’t be” has happened to them an awful lot.
Key player -- Dimitri Payet (West Ham)
No matter where he plays in West Ham’s attacking midfield group, left, right, or center, Payet is always a threat. Chelsea’s defense is going to have to keep one eye on him at all times, because his explosiveness and skill on the ball makes him eternally dangerous -- but always paying attention to him can create opportunities for other West Ham players to find and exploit weaknesses in Chelsea’s defense brought on by distraction.
Key Matchup -- Diafra Sakho (West Ham) vs. John Terry (Chelsea)
Terry still has some gas in him, but as the march of years wears on, his game is slowly becoming more limited. Powerful attackers he still has the strength to deal with. Quick attackers he still has the tactical intelligence to deal with. Attackers like Sakho, though, who are powerful and quick -- those Terry has problems with. If Chelsea can’t get him help against Sakho, this could be a very bad day indeed.
West Ham United injuries and suspensions
Out: Winston Reid, Alex Song, Joey O’Brien
Chelsea injuries and suspensions
Out: Loic Remy, Pedro, Branislav Ivanovic, Thibaut Courtois
Neither team is missing too many players, though the ones who are out are fairly important. Courtois is obviously vital as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Pedro, Remy, and Ivanovic all represent vital depth -- even if Ivanovic has had an underwhelming season so far. The same goes for Reid, Song, and O’Brien for West Ham -- they’re of varying import for Bilic’s starting lineup, but all are key cogs for the teams’ depth and rotation.
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, 3 p.m. local
Venue: Boleyn Ground, London, England
TV: NBC Universo (U.S. - Spanish), TSN4 (Canada)
Online: NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S.)
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