Chelsea v West Ham United
Chelsea will be seeking to avenge their 2-1 defeat at Upton Park earlier in the campaign and simultaneously put added pressure on those teams fighting it out for the Premiership ascendancy.
The Chelsea masses would doubtless like to see a more consistent showing in the league, as last weekend's score draw at the Reebok Stadium was symptomatic of the team's inability to maintain a lead. For the second week in succession the Blues twice let slip a one-goal advantage - just as they did against Southampton seven days previous - losing valuable points in the process.
Manager Claudio Ranieri was clearly finding it hard to deal with his team relinquishing a lead yet again at Bolton: "I think we lost two points but I also think that by the end Bolton deserved to draw. But when you score and they equalise and then you go ahead again it's hard when they equalise for a second time." It might have been interesting to have monitored the Italian's heart rate over the past fortnight to see what sort of strain he has been under, as opposed to Sam Allardyce's.
Meanwhile, across the capital, Glenn Roeder appears to be finding his feet in the West Ham hot seat, despite early unrest at his initial appointment. The Hammers are now comfortably nestled in mid-table thanks to a narrow victory over Leicester and a couple more wins could see them make a belated assault on the top six.
The signing this week of Sparta Prague's left-sided utility man Vladimir Labant - who supplied 88 crosses for Sparta Prague in the Champions which is a total second only to Luis Figo - indicates a manager looking to sustain a charge up the table, rather than settling for a struggle. With his ability to charge down the flanks, the Slovakian should add more depth to a side that have already completed 27% of their centres - only Manchester United and Sunderland have been more accurate.
In contrast Chelsea have struggled to provide their attackers with quality balls from wide positions this season, with just a fifth of their 500-plus deliveries picking out a blue shirt. Nevertheless, the raw firepower stored in the boots of both Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen has accounted for a combined tally of 22 league goals and contributed greatly to the Blues turning 13% of their shots into goals - two percentage points better than the Hammers.
Hasselbaink opened the scoring with a penalty in the corresponding fixture last season and he is rated at 11/4 to carry out the same deed on Sunday. Whether Chelsea would be able to go and take all three points should that scenario unfold would represent a real test of character.
Mark Willis
Match referee: A. D'Urso
Both Chelsea and West Ham occupy a place among the top ten most undisciplined teams in the Premiership this term and referee Andy D'Urso may have to keep a close eye on events in this London derby. Half-a-dozen red cards dished out already this season indicate that he is not an official to be messed with.
Referee's Name FoulsPenaltiesYellow CardsRed CardsAve
Disc pointsA. D'Urso 404 2 57 6 44.07
PLAYER HEAD-TO-HEAD
click below for in-depth comparisonLampard v Hutchison
TEAM NEWS
Michael Carrick is back for the Hammers and replaces the suspended John Moncur. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink may again miss out for the Blues.
MATCH BETTING
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Match Result
Chelsea 8/15
West Ham 5/1
Draw 12/5
Correct Score
Chelsea 1-0 6/1
Chelsea 2-0 11/2
Chelsea 2-1 7/1
Chelsea 3-0 9/1
Chelsea 3-1 9/1
Chelsea 3-2 28/1
Chelsea 4-0 22/1
Chelsea 4-1 20/1
Chelsea 4-2 40/1
Chelsea 5-0 40/1
Chelsea 5-1 40/1
Chelsea 6-0 100/1
Chelsea 6-1 100/1
Draw 0-0 8/1
Draw 1-1 6/1
Draw 2-2 16/1
Draw 3-3 50/1
West Ham 1-0 11/1
West Ham 2-0 28/1
West Ham 2-1 20/1
West Ham 3-0 80/1
West Ham 3-1 66/1
West Ham 3-2 66/1
West Ham 4-0 100/1
West Ham 4-1 100/1
West Ham 4-2 100/1
Double Result
Chelsea/Chelsea 5/4
Chelsea/Draw 16/1
Chelsea/West Ham 45/1
Draw/Chelsea 7/2
Draw/Draw 4/1
Draw/West Ham 11/1
West Ham/Chelsea 28/1
West Ham/Draw 16/1
West Ham/West Ham 11/1
First Goalscorer
J F Hasselbaink 11/4
E Gudjohnsen 4/1
G Zola 5/1
M Forssell 13/2
F Lampard 12/1
M Stanic 12/1
B Zenden 14/1
E Petit 16/1
J Morris 20/1
J Keenan 25/1
M Melchiot 33/1
M Desailly 33/1
W Gallas 33/1
G Le Saux 33/1
J Terry 40/1
A Ferrer 50/1
No Goalscorer 8/1
F Kanoute 7/1
J Defoe 7/1
P Di Canio 8/1
P Kitson 9/1
D Hutchison 12/1
T Sinclair 16/1
M Carrick 20/1
J Cole 20/1
Courtois 25/1
S Schmemel 33/1
S Minto 40/1
R Soma 40/1
C Dailly 50/1
H Foxe 50/1
T Repka 50/1
N Winterburn 50/1
S Potts 66/1
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By Road:
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