Match Preview: ‘Limping’ Blues Host Hammers As Chelsea Search for a Win in London Derby Against West Ham

• Chelsea host West Ham United at Stamford Bridge in a Premier League London derby on Saturday afternoon
• The Blues, who have bolstered their roster with Aubameyang and other deadline-day signings, are bidding to bounce back from their midweek defeat at Southampton.
• West Ham, who are on the rise after suffering straight losses, spent around £160million on eight senior summer signings

Chelsea suffered a second successive defeat on the road for the first time since December 2020 as Southampton clawed back to win 2-1 on Tuesday night.

The Blues have had a stop-start form in the opening five games of the top-flight and would look to bounce back to winning ways when they host fellow Londoners West Ham at Stamford Bridge.

Despite their poor away form, Tuchel's charges are unbeaten at home and the German tactician will be hoping for a positive reaction from his men as they seek a win to keep pace with their fellow top-four challengers.

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The Chelsea boss is expecting a quick reaction from his charges after he branded his team as 'soft' following their 2-1 loss to the Saints.

"We need to [toughen up]. We will use the end of the transfer period and the energy and stability when you know who's in the squad and who fights for what." Tuchel said via Football London.

"We will use this stability we need to influence each other. We can see it today and yesterday, there was not the most intense training because of the matches in the week.

"We had a good training session and now I need to choose a team for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, David Moyes' West Ham seems to have arrested their poor start to the campaign - winning one and drawing the other in their last two games after suffering three consecutive defeats.

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The former United boss is looking at infusing his new signings to his squad ahead of the derby.

"It is really important for the players to do a big job. We've got a really good player care team, look after their house, make sure they are okay.

"You want to see their abilities, you want the other players to see how they play, where they play. Ideally, you would have them in pre-season and now, you are having to play them in Premier League games while you are still trying to win it.

Team News

Chelsea

New signing Wesley Fofana is available for selection for this weekend's clash with West Ham.

Conor Gallagher is back after serving a one-game suspension at St Mary's, while James has recovered from illness and Chalobah is back from injury.

Mateo Kovacic could be in line for a start and Ruben Loftus-Cheek has recovered from a tight hamstring which forced him off against the Saints at half-time.

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Unfortunately, new signings Aubameyang and Denis Zakaria would miss the London derby for varied reasons.

West Ham

David Moyes suggested that Italian forward Gianluca Scamacca – who missed Wednesday’s match due to illness - and defender Aaron Cresswell would also be subject to late decisions as to their availability.

Club record signing Lucas Paquetá, who made his debut for West Ham from the bench against Spurs, could start the derby from the bench as Moyes eases the Brazilian into Premier League football

Probable lineup

Players to watch

Raheem Sterling is off the mark for Chelsea, having notched three goals in his last two outings, and will be the club's main source of goals if the Blues are to maintain their unbeaten home run.

With Antonio struggling to find his goal-scoring boot this campaign, the onus will lie on Czech international Soucek, who scored in West Ham's last league game.