₦airaland Forum

Can't wait

Chestar5:
Zouma izz back !!

It's really nice to have him back. But azpi has been putting in a nice shift, I wonder if he would be relegated to the bench.

Chelsea here Chelsea there

We check on the progress of some of our loan players and preview the week ahead…

LOAN HIGHLIGHTS
In the Premier League, Patrick Bamford came on as a late substitute for Burnley as they beat Everton 2-1 at Turf Moor courtesy of a late winner.

In the Championship, Christian Atsu was brought off the bench for Newcastle in a 3-0 home win over Ipswich, having done the same in a 2-0 victory at Barnsley last Tuesday. The Magpies are now three points clear at the top of the Championship.

Tammy Abraham played the whole 90 minutes for Bristol City as they returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Blackburn after a 1-0 defeat at QPR in midweek. Kasey Palmer completed his first full match for Huddersfield who beat Derby by a goal to nil after they suffered a defeat on Tuesday night, going down 3-1 at Preston. He came off the bench for the final 25 minutes of that game.

Lucas Piazon started both of Fulham’s matches – a 2-2 draw against Norwich followed by a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday. Izzy Brown started for Rotherham last Tuesday in a 4-2 defeat at Birmingham City and came off the bench in Saturday’s 1-0 loss against Reading.

In League One, both Charlie Colkett (pictured above) and Jake Clarke-Salter were on the scoresheet for Bristol Rovers in their 2-0 win at Oldham at the weekend. Colkett opened the scoring in the first half with a fierce left-footed strike and Clarke-Salter added a late second after coming on as a substitute, heading home from a corner. The duo both featured for the Gasheads in a thrilling 3-3 draw at MK Dons last Tuesday and linked up brilliantly for one of Rovers’ goals, with Colkett producing an audacious back-heel which Clarke-Salter ran on to before squaring for Matt Taylor to score.

In League Two, Alex Davey was a substitute in Crawley Town’s goalless draw with Accrington Stanley. Jamal Blackman was in goal for Wycombe in a 2-0 defeat against Barnet. Jordan Houghton played for Doncaster who lost 4-2 at Blackpool and Alex Kiwomya was a starter in Crewe’s 1-0 loss against Yeovil. In the Ryman League, Nathan Baxter was in goal for Met Police who lost 3-2 against Staines Town.

In La Liga, Victorien Angban started for Granada against Gijon. In Serie A, Mario Pasalic started on the bench as AC Milan hosted Juventus.

In the Dutch Eredivisie, Lewis Baker and Matt Miazga played the full game for Vitesse Arnhem as they were forced to settle for a point after conceding a late equaliser against NEC Nijmegen. Nathan was a second-half substitute. Baker saw a late strike, which would have won it for Vitesse, ruled out. Danilo Pantic, meanwhile, came off the bench for Excelsior as they lost 1-0 against Roda.
Bertrand Traore was involved for Ajax as they earned a valuable draw away at PSV Eindhoven and he also played in their Europa League game against Celta Vigo last Thursday. On both occasions he was deployed wide on the right-hand side.

Baba Rahman came on as a late sub as Schalke beat Mainz 3-0 yesterday after completing the full 90 minutes in their Europa League win over Krasnodar last week.
In Spain, Victorien Angban started for Granada as they drew 0-0 with Sporting Gijon.
In Belgium, Matej Delac was in goal for Mouscron against KV Mechelen, with Islam Feruz coming off the bench for the closing stages, while Christian Cuevas played the full game for Sint-Truiden as they lost to Gent.

In Turkey, Kenneth Omeruo was in the Alanyaspor rearguard in a 2-0 loss against Bursaspor while further afield, in Brazil, Wallace played 90 minutes for Gremio away to Santos last week.
THE WEEK AHEAD
It’s a busy week of action across all levels, starting tonight as our development squad take on Derby County at Aldershot. The game kicks off at 7.05 and can be watched live on Chelsea TV.

Antonio Conte will be speaking to the media at Cobham tomorrow ahead of our EFL Cup tie away at West Ham United on Wednesday, which kicks off at 7.45pm.
The Italian will then preview Sunday’s trip to Southampton on Friday afternoon, with the game at St Mary’s taking place at 4pm on Sunday.

Chelsea TV’s Friday Night Live airs for the second week in succession with Nemanja Matic and Asmir Begovic the studio guests.
Jody Morris’s Under-18s are back in action on Saturday when they entertain Leicester City at Cobham. That game kicks off at 11.05am and will be shown live on Chelsea TV.

Chelsea Ladies, meanwhile, play their final home game of the FA WSL season against Reading at Wheatsheaf Park on Sunday at 6pm.

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Media rips the special one to shreds.

Antonio Conte has exorcised Jose Mourinho ghost at Chelsea

]Sky Sports' Niall Quinn dissects Chelsea's win over Jose Mourinho's Manchester United and says the Antonio Conte era at Stamford Bridge has well and truly begun.

In football you don't always get what you want but sometimes you get what you need.

A few weeks ago Chelsea looked as if they were in serious trouble having been turned over by Liverpool and Arsenal in the space of eight days. When Chelsea beat Leicester in between those defeats we only talked about that result as a sign of how quickly Leicester had fallen.
Whispers went around that Roman Abramovich was feeling trigger-happy again and that Antonio Conte was in the crosshairs.

The rumours of Conte's imminent demise were no doubt greatly exaggerated but that's the Premier League. Two bad results in eight days create rumours. Rumours create pressure. Pressure creates crises.
On Super Sunday, Antonio Conte sorted out several 'crises' in one game of 90 minutes.

Before kick-off Conte was one of a group of Premier League managers being haunted by the ghost of a predecessor. That the predecessor was just up the touchline prowling like a grey wolf didn't help. We were wondering if the next addition to Chelsea's backroom might be an exorcist.

No need as it turned out
Having parked the bus at Anfield last Monday night Manchester United gave an early and comical hint that they had actually left the bus where they parked it. The slapstick defending that let Pedro in for a goal after 30 seconds wasn't Conte's worry. Next time he looked up the line the grey wolf looked old and sheepish.

Four months into their new jobs the Conte era has definitely begun at Chelsea. Conte has ended up, through circumstance, with a team that looks nothing like what Jose Mourinho left behind.

Meanwhile, Manchester United are still just the backdrop for the long-running soap opera that is Jose Mourinho.
Sunday was the third game in succession that Antonio Conte has deployed the 3-4-3 formation that he used so well during his time at Juventus. At first glance Conte didn't seem to have the resources to play 3-4-3 at Stamford Bridge but injuries and defeats have forced the formation upon him. The upshot has been three wins on the trot; nine goals scored, none conceded.

Injuries to Cesc Fabregas, John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic were probably the last thing Conte needed but with his professional life flashing in front of his eyes he had to think quickly. After Arsenal picked Chelsea clean Conte came up with a radical change of shape. Chelsea have gone from the frumpy mothballed outfit that Mourinho left behind to a slinky 3-4-3.
They suddenly have the confidence to change shape and be fluid. Results obviously help but the players look like they have bought into the new deal.
The 3-4-3 is what goes down in the team sheets that appear in the papers and on the TV screen before games but when Chelsea attack now Marcos Alonso becomes a winger and when they defend he is a left full-back. He has more mobility than Ivanovic and he suits the new style. His versatility means that David Luiz can do the things he is good at, like moving the ball forward quickly and also be well covered when attempting the things he is not so good at, like old fashioned defending.

Alonso has also freed Eden Hazard up on the left side of a front three. Hazard is part of the new theme at Chelsea right now

Players who were going backwards, getting sulky or being ignored during last season's doldrums are now looking revived. Diego Costa looks better with support around him. Victor Moses is like a brand new signing.
Chelsea are more likely to continue evolving than to go back to what they were. John Terry is just recovering from injury and he¹ll have felt that sinking feeling that any player deep into his thirties gets when he sees that, in his absence, his team has smoothly switched to a formation that he possibly hasn't got the mobility for.

Terry, though, is enough of a leader and a presence that he will get game-time as injuries and suspensions kick in. Fabregas, on the other hand, looks as if he might be redundant.

I don't think Chelsea fans were jumping up and down with joy when the transfer window closed at the end of August. The club's main signings, Alonso, N'Golo Kante and Luiz didn't have the marquee value that the Bridge has become used to. They weren't big statements or bait for those thinking of buying season tickets. They were additions.


Chelsea have gone from the frumpy mothballed outfit that Mourinho left behind to a slinky 3-4-3.
They looked like solid enough business but Alonso had been at Bolton and Sunderland in previous incarnations and his success in Italy with Fiorentina had gone largely unnoticed. In Chelsea terms he looked like a signing who would deepen the squad without improving it greatly. His versatility, though, has suddenly become very useful.
Luiz had caused enough palpitations in his previous spell at Chelsea, while in France he didn't look to have been playing at sufficiently high a level to have improved. The last vivid memory most people had of him after he left Chelsea was captaining Brazil on the night they got stuffed 7-1 by Germany in the 2014 World Cup. He's back in business now.And Kante? Of course one fine season at Leicester but his time at Boulogne and Caen hadn't brought any international recognition. Not that Chelsea couldn't afford it but £32m seemed like a lot of money for a guy who might turn out to be a one-hit wonder.

But as Conte exorcised the last echo of a Portuguese accent from his office Kante gave a performance which suggested he is the midfielder Manchester United should have bought this summer.
It wasn't just that Kante was one of the dominant forces of the afternoon but his goal in the second half highlighted the fact that United are playing at the moment without any world class defensive presence in their midfield.

Antonio Conte reacts after a comprehensive win over Manchester United
By contrast Chelsea¹s midfield is built around Kante and Nemanja Matic, two pretty frightening guard dogs. Kante is settling in and looking more like the player he was at Leicester last season. He has a bit to go before he matches Claude Makelele in the role but even the fact that people are talking in terms of comparisons shows what a good investment he has been.
Kante's energy and defensive ability has allowed Matic to show another side to his game. He gets forward now when there is the space to do so. He is less worried about being the last man back before the ball moves into Luiz's orbit.

There was a bit of cynicism in the air when Kante moved to Chelsea. Players usually use their desire to play Champions League football as an excuse to leave smaller clubs behind. Leicester were heading off on a Champions League adventure though and Kante was going to a club who would have no European involvement this year.

No European involvement might end up the most positive part of Mourinho's legacy to Conte and his players. As Leicester had last year, this Chelsea team has the time to recover between games and work hard on their formation. Manchester United are stuck in the Europa League, a competition that feels beneath them but which involves tough Champions League-style preparation and travel for Thursday night fixtures.

That's football, you don't always get what you want. Sometimes you get what you need and that's Antonio Conte's blessing.

Mourinho? He got the club that he wanted but does he know what he needs? That could be Manchester United's curse.

To add to that, the most common formations for top teams in football has always been 442,433, 4231 and to a lesser extent 352. As such, one can say the 343 is quite foreign /new. Nobody could have predicted that conte would use a 343. None of us ever saw that prior to this. The current Chelsea squad doesn'thave the capacity to effectively carry it out. So for him to use this formation is a stroke of genius.

Nihilist:
If we finish in the top 4 this season, the we would have achieved the feat 3 times out of 4 consecutive seasons. Some would argue that the one season that we ended in 10th was the real 'miracle'.

If we ask you what balance means again, you will start quoting articles and pointing out teams skewed towards attacking instead of defining your nebulous concept of 'balance'.


I'm at work now though so I don't have time to indulge such talk this morning. So just leave me to balance in my chair.


This kind of ignorance really annoys me. Bobby Martinez was playing 343 with Wigan as far back as 2010, and West Ham occasionally played it last season and this season. Watford play 343 now and even Sunderland have done it this season...all before the Hull game.

And I'm just keeping it to teams that start in this formation not those that transition into it during the game..


Alonso is easily replaceable within the squad. Kante is the only irreplaceable component of our defensive unit.

In football,there are general cliches used which do not have general/ definitive meanings but are generally understood. Words like team chemistry, parking-the-bus, gegen-pressing, team cohesion, squad balance etc. These are common words used in football without having a definitive detailed description but are generally understood or sometimes generally debatable based on individual perceptions.
When I say balance, I mean the general basic factors which define player positions and affect general team play.
Factors: Chelsea had a right-back playing at left-back for so long! This limited the the attacking output from the left side of the team as the left winger who was arguably the best player in the team was mostly isolated upfront and had to drop deep most of the time to retrieve the ball or defend.
2. Chelsea had an old right back who was very slow(utter lack of pace) , couldn't carry out the basic functions of a right back such as helping in transitioning of defence to attack, his crosses being very poor, very poor support of the right winger and was almost like a minus in the team.

3. In central midfield, we had very sluggish midfielders in matic and Fabregas.
fabregas is highly creative but defensively shambolic and slow.
matic is averagely defensive, has good tackling but doesn't know what to do with the ball (bar very recently) and is extremely slow!!
Kante is defensively astute , athletic and energetic but vision less and creatively limited and when they all play together, you have a very slow midfield which becomes a recipe for disaster.
we have a no 10 (Oscar) who is known more for his defensive contributions than offensive contributions!!!

4)We have a right winger who has ONLY a high work rate without end product.
Then we have hazard who for all his perceived potential hasn't lived up to the billing yet.
When you look at all these problems in your Team, one is bound to say the team is not balanced.
Yes this team won the league but it is still very debatable whether it was down to any mourinho's factor, over-perfomance of the team, the inconsistency of our rivals and the major rebuilding done at other top rivals but one thing was certain, The squad wasn't balanced and the General standard of the league itself was poor.

It should be noted that the time we finished 3rd, we still had Lampard, Ashley Cole, David Luis and Mata. These players all played huge roles in our 3rd placed and semis appearance in UEFA.

I may have forgotten about wigans formation because that was long ago and Moreso it was very unpopular because that system failed them, so you can forgive me for saying it hasn't really been used. But you Shouldn't lie to buttress your pint. Watford have been using 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2 since the season began, so don't misinterprete that. According to whoscored, Sunderland have been using a 4-3-3 or 451 so I don't know where you got that from.

Nihilist:
There's nothing particular outrageous about my statements once you view the timeline and view them with the prism of proper context.

I have always insisted that this team is good enough to challenge for the title unlike many other posters including yourself, who were always quick to point out squad limitations and imbalance, in adfition to a failure to land Conte's targets as the reason for our poor performances under Conte.

Despite our performances, there is one constant factor that can't be denied or hidden, THIS SQUAD IS IMBALANCED. I earlier said it would be a miracle should we win the league and unfortunately I still stand by that! But conte is really really working some goddamn magic. Would you have ever envisaged that azpi could ever become a center -back , or cahill who has always played on the right side of the defense throughout his career can be decent on the left side!! Or Moses who many had cast aside will be a very decent rightback?( many thought it will be willan).
He is now benching fan favorites John Terry, fabregas and Oscar!! These were all though calls.
This formation has never been used in EPL history but for him to have believed in it and used it to effectively cover up our deficiencies goes to show you how good and adaptable conte is.
We should really be grateful to conte, The teams current form has the imprints of conte written all over it.

Now that the team is looking decent, it only supports my assertion that the right tactics was all that was needed to get the team firing again.

In terms of improvement, there has clearly been an improvement in the team's play since the Hull game when I first pondered if the 343 really offered anything different.

I am still not completely convinced by the tactics as they haven't been tested on any real quality teams. Leicester were dire and say what you want, but while we dominated United yesterday, they were absolutely terrible...especially with Smalling playing like a saboteur on our payroll.

Despite my reservations, I am now cautiously optimistic for the future...the team is playing well, the players are cooing in their interviews, and the cleansheet are constant.

And I can't argue with 3points either.

True!! I agree with you there! It hasn't really been tested and it may be only a matter of time before teams find the loopholes we have but we can only enjoy it while it lasts and hope our players don't go injuries because any of the current 1st team player that goes on injury especially Kante or Marcos Alonso is going to be a very big blow to the team.

Reaction: One for the fans

Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard, both scorers in yesterday’s 4-0 demolition of Manchester United, were full of praise for the side following a scintillating display at Stamford Bridge.

It was an emphatic victory and one which saw us move above Tottenham into fourth position courtesy of a superior goal difference.
Pedro scored the quickest goal of the Premier League season, inside 30 seconds, to give us the lead before Cahill doubled our advantage with a close-range finish. Hazard added a third before N’Golo Kante scored a brilliant fourth, his first for the club.
‘First and foremost winning the game was the most important thing but the performance that went with it was fantastic,’ said stand-in skipper Cahill.

‘We dominated from the first minute to the last and it was really impressive from us. We’re very pleased and I’m delighted with the attitude shown by the boys.
‘It was the way we wanted to start the game, we wanted to be sharp and that’s what Pedro was,’ the defender added, when asked about the early opener. ‘He was first to react and bang, it was 1-0. We played well, we played with confidence and overall it was probably our best performance of the season.’

Cahill’s goal was his first of the campaign, and he was pleased to get off the mark in such an important game.
‘It dropped perfectly for me and I couldn’t miss,’ he said. ‘I was delighted to get a goal, it put us 2-0 up and in the Premier League it’s very difficult to come back from 2-0 down.’

Hazard was outstanding once more, as he was against Leicester a week ago, and the Belgian believes the fact we overcame a strong opponent was particularly significant.
‘It gives a lot of confidence,’ he said. ‘We started well and for the fans and us it was a great afternoon. It was a big game and we’ve already lost big games this season against Liverpool and Arsenal, so we did well.

‘In football the most important thing is three points. We have a lot of confidence now, we’ve won three games in a row and we have to continue like this.’

It’s now three wins and three clean sheets since Antonio Conte changed the formation, moving to a 3-4-3, and Cahill says the players have total faith in the Italian’s methods.
‘He’s an experienced manager and you have to buy into his ideas, we’ve done that. We’re managing to build from the back and get out quite easily and for me, it’s nice we’ve tightened up. A few weeks ago it was doom and gloom but look at the league table. Ultimately it shows character.
‘We’ve stopped letting goals in and naturally that breeds confidence. We need to stay in contention, stay up there. It’s going to be tight until the end of the season because there are some terrific teams up there.’

CLUB'S OFFICIAL SITE

I am definitely happy with the result but nonetheless I still felt great pity for him.

Ibime:
Neymar has 49 goals for Brazil at age 24. For the record, Brazils all-time top goalscorer is Pele with 77. Keep talking of Barca and Messi. . . meanwhile Neymar is chasing Pele.

Another example - Thomas Muller is on 38 UCL goals after 81 games, Hazard is on 5 UCL goals.

So you've actually put Hazard at the right level, the true level be operates at is around about 16 goals per season.

I agree with nihilist when he says it's just a mental problem for hazard. I believe he has the right tools needed to be a top goal scorer but has a little mental block about that but conte can definitely work on that.
Meanwhile wetin sweet you pass about our game yesterday?

16 epl goals for hazard is definitely below his standards. We should be expecting at least 25 goals.
Still waiting for nihilist to tell us his feelings about Conte.

DammyOlu123:
Mourinho is such a sore loser. As if any Chelsea fan gives 2 shits about him right now... Oh, sorry donjaznet

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/2033759/jose-mourinho-told-antonio-conte-not-to-humiliate-him-after-chelseas-4-0-win-over-manchester-united/

I believe I made it abundantly clear few days ago that I would support Chelsea. I was and still am very happy with the result and what conte is doing right now.

A club is always greater than any individual.

Will the derby win over Manchester City be a turning point for José Mourinho and United? Perhaps, but anything less than a convincing win here would see the doom-merchants back out in force. Burnley may have recorded a couple of notable home scalps, against Liverpool and Everton, but they have struggled away from Turf Moor, conceding three in all three of their games on the road. Alan Smith

Kick-off Saturday 3pm

Venue Old Trafford

Last season n/a
Referee M Clattenburg
This season G5, Y22, R0, 4.4 cards per game
Odds H 2-9 A 20-1 D 11-5

Manchester Utd
Subs from Johnstone, Romero, Depay, Rooney, Fosu-Mensah, Martial, Fellaini, Tuanzebe, Schneiderlin, Darmian, Mkhitaryan, Young

Doubtful Martial (foot), Rooney, Smalling (both match fitness)
Injured Bailly (knee, Dec), Jones, Wilson (both knee, unknown)

Suspended None
Form LWDDL

Discipline Y21 R0
Leading scorer Ibrahimovic 4

Burnley
Subs from Robinson, Pope, Lafferty, Flanagan, Tarkowski, Darikwa, Arfield, K Long, Kightly, C Long, Bamford, Gray, Barnes

Doubtful Barnes (hamstring), Boyd (back), Defour (hamstring)

Injured None

Suspended None

Form LWLLW

Discipline Y13 R0

Leading scorer Vokes 3

airmark:
Hidden ikedia , all dribble, dribble with no end result.



[img]http:///media/10-23-2016/s6pwLD.gif[/img]

He played so well today. Although I believe Kante deserved the man of the match. He really worked tirelessly and his transitions from defense to attack was superb.
In general, all the Chelsea players were sooo good.

A little banter

Post match report coming up, meanwhile savour the victory with these pics.

Claude Puel continues to rotate to good effect as Southampton show themselves to be both solid and enterprising despite regular changes. Chelsea will have to excel, much like they did last weekend against Manchester United, to extend their three-game winning streak in the league. A lot could depend on how well the visitors’ wing-backs do against Southampton’s full-backs. Paul Doyle

Kick-off Sunday 4pm

Venue St Mary’s

Last season Southampton 1 Chelsea 2

Live Sky Sports 1

Referee M Jones

This season G5, Y15, R0, 3 cards per game

Odds H 9-4 A 11-8 D 12-5

Southampton
Subs from McCarthy, Soares, Yoshida, McQueen, Reed, Clasie, Boufal

Doubtful Bertrand (hamstring), Soares (foot)

Injured Long (hamstring, Nov), Rodriguez (concussion, Nov), Targett (hamstring, Nov), Pied (knee, Jun)

Suspended None

Form WWDWD

Discipline Y16 R0

Leading scorer Austin 4

Chelsea
Subs from Begovic, Eduardo, Aina, Oscar, Willian, Terry, Chalobah, Ivanovic, Solanke, Batshuayi, Loftus-Cheek

Doubtful Ivanovic (match fitness)

Injured Fàbregas (thigh, 5 Nov), Van Ginkel (knee, unknown)

Suspended None

Form LLWWW

Discipline Y23 R0

Leading scorer Costa 7

Mauricio Pochettino has to hope that the adage about form going out of the window on derby days rings true. Tottenham might be unbeaten in the Premier League but they have hit something of a wall in creative terms while Arsenal have goals in them and their tails up. Arsène Wenger has injury doubts over a clutch of players but he has selection headaches in a good way. The return of Harry Kane is a prominent sub-plot. David Hytner

Kick-off Sunday noon
Venue Emirates Stadium
Last season Arsenal 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Live BT Sport 1
Referee Mark Clattenburg
This season G7, Y30, R1, 4.57 cards per game

Odds H 10-11 A 3-1 D 5-2
Arsenal
Subs from Ospina, Debuchy, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Gabriel, Holding, Xhaka, Elneny, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Reine-Adélaïde, Akpom, Sanogo, Giroud

Doubtful Bellerín, Monreal (both match fitness), Cazorla (achilles), Gibbs (shoulder), Walcott (hamstring)
Injured Pérez (ankle, Dec), Mertesacker, Welbeck (both knee, Jan)
Suspended None
Form WWWWDW
Discipline Y14 R1

Leading scorer Sánchez 6

Tottenham Hotspur
Subs from Vorm, Lopez, Trippier, Davies, Wimmer, Carter-Vickers, Carroll, Onomah, Nkoudou, Janssen, Dembélé
Doubtful Dembélé (ankle)
Injured Alderweireld (knee, 19 Nov), Lamela (hip, 19 Nov)
Suspended Sissoko (last of three)
Form WWWDDD
Discipline Y21 R0
Leading scorer Son 4

Emaprince:
Conte out!!! Any one? Nihilist?

Later! Make we party finish for Man-u thread!!
Nihilist has a lot to answer.

agrovick:
The bold is my greatest fear with the 3-4-3, I can't seem to imagine what will happen should Moses and Alonso get injured. We probably should have held on to either of Kenedy or Baba

Yes. But let's enjoy it while it lasts..
I never thought we would win man-United with such a scoreline!

West Ham vs Chelsea: Prediction, live coverage, team news, head to head, and– EFL Cup preview
After securing just their third league win of the season, West Ham now face a big test in the EFL Cup as Slaven Bilic's side host an in-form Chelsea team on Wednesday.
The Hammers lost their Premier League season opener against Antonio Conte's men at Stamford Bridge, which triggered off a set of results that left West Ham hovering in the drop zone.
But after beating Crystal Palace and, last weekend, Sunderland, Bilic's men will have been injected with some confidence although the thought of now playing a Chelsea side coming off the back of three straight league victories will be daunting.

The Blues outclassed Jose Mourinho's Manchester United side at the weekend, and despite having to go into the heart of east London to take on West Ham in the Cup, Chelsea will be boosted by the fact they have already beaten West Ham 2-1 this season.
Read on to find out more about the London derby this week...
DATE, TIME AND VENUE

West Ham welcome Chelsea to the London Stadium on Wednesday 26 October, with kick-off set to take place at 7.45pm.
TEAM NEWS
Bilic will have left-back Aaron Cresswell available for selection following his return from knee injury in the 1-0 win over Palace although the game could come too soon for Andre Ayew, who has returned to first-team training following the thigh injury he picked up against Chelsea.

Andy Carroll recently suffered a setback in his attempts to return from an ankle issue while Arthur Masuauku, Diafra Sakho, Gokhan Tore and sam Byram are also out.

Conte will have to assess whether Cesc Fabregas (thigh) and Branislav Ivanovic (muscle) have gotten over their respective issues, although it is likely the Italian will leave the pair out altogether.

Kurt Zouma has returned to training but the defender will not be ready to face West Ham. Willian and Oscar are in contention to feature, however, after the pair returned from Brazil last week following the death of the former's mother and the latter's grandfather.
West Ham vs Sunderland

PREDICTED LINE-UPS
West Ham likely starting XI: Adrian, Kouyate, Reid, Ogbonna, Antonio, Noble, Obiang, Fernandes, Lanzini, Zaza, Payet.

Chelsea likely starting XI: Begovic, Azpilicueta, Terry, Luiz, Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso, Willian, Batshuayi, Hazard

Raumdeuter
I made a request

hensben:
Remember I told you we have a team that is capable to win this season epl.

Despite this victory, don't be carried away!! If any of these players go on injury, we will have major setbacks. These results should be credited to conte!! He has totally got the best out of what he has.!! There is no adequate backup should Kante or Marcos Alonso go on injury. So we are actually walking on a thight rope here.

We’ve stopped letting goals in, so naturally it gives us confidence. Three points is the most important thing today.
: "It means a lot. The performance today was fantastic, we dominated from the first minute."

Cahill

"In football, the most important thing is three points. We have a lot of confidence now and hope to continue this way.
"We lost two big games against Liverpool and Arsenal. This means a lot to our fans. "It gives us a lot of confidence. We deserved to win, we dominated the game. It’s a great afternoon for us and the fans. ---

Hazard.

Raumdeuter play me bottom belle by omawnumi

raumdeuter:
Tell me there is any Chelsea fan who isnt happy and does not feel like using leg to cross the Atlantic right now

90+4' The referee blows the final whistle
90+4' Ander Herrera from Manchester United trips Nemanja Matic
90+3' Thibaut Courtois comes out and claims the ball
90+3' Juan Mata puts in a cross
90+3' Juan Mata from Manchester United takes a short corner kick from the right.
90+3' A shot from long range by Marcos Rojo goes to a corner kick after a save by the keeper
90+2' Thibaut Courtois comes out and claims the ball
90+2' Marcos Rojo from Manchester United passes the ball in the box, but the keeper comes out and claims it.
90+2' Paul Pogba from Manchester United directs the ball behind the defence.
90+1' The fourth official shows there are 3 minute(s) of time to be added
90' A shot from long range by Nathaniel Chalobah is saved by the keeper
90' The home team have had 43% of possession compared to the away team's 57%
88' Michy Batshuayi from Chelsea is ruled offside
88' A shot by Victor Moses is blocked