West Ham United v Chelsea
Wednesday 18th April
Boleyn Ground
Kick off: 8pm
Live on Sky Sports
Referee: Mike Dean
Team News:
Alan Curbishley has no fresh injury worries following
Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United and could name an
unchanged starting line-up for the fourth successive match.
Defender Calum Davenport made his comeback from a foot injury last
night, playing 60 minutes as the reserves beat Reading, and is
likely to be named in the squad for tonight's match, while
Nigel Quashie is still ruled out.
Chelsea will be without striker Andriy Shevchenko, who suffered a
thigh injury during their FA Cup semi-final win over Blackburn
Rovers on Sunday. His place is expected to be taken by Salomon
Kalou, with Arjen Robben still out injured. Former Hammers Frank
Lampard and Joe Cole are both likely to face their old club.
Background:
The most recent meeting between the two sides was at Stamford
Bridge back in November, when a free-kick from Geremi earned Jose
Mourinho's men a 1-0 victory just days before Eggert Magnusson
announced his takeover at West Ham United.
Since then, the Blues have lost just once in the Premiership, away
at Liverpool in January, but have responded to that set-back by
winning their last eight league matches to remain within touching
distance of leaders Manchester United in their bid for a third
successive title triumph.
Having lifted the Carling Cup in February, Chelsea are also in with
a chance of securing an amazing quadruple achievement, with a
Champions League semi-final against Liverpool later this month and
an FA Cup final against Manchester United at the new Wembley on May
19.
Hammers, meanwhile, will be hoping to secure their first victory
over Chelsea since May 2003, when Paolo Di Canio scored the only
goal of the game in our final home match of the season.
The last fixture at Upton Park between the two sides ended in a 3-1
victory for Chelsea, on January 2, 2006, when goals from Frank
Lampard, Hernan Crespo and Didier Drogba cancelled out a strike
from Marlon Harewood.
Stats:
Last six league meetings at Upton Park:
2005/06 West Ham 1 (Harewood) Chelsea 3 (Lampard, Crespo, Drogba)
2002/03 West Ham 1 (Di Canio) Chelsea 0
2001/02 West Ham 2 (Carrick, Kanouté) Chelsea 1 (Hasselbaink)
2000/01 West Ham 0 Chelsea 2 (Gudjohnsen, Hasselbaink)
1999/00 West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
1998/99 West Ham 1 (Ruddock) Chelsea 1 (Babayaro)
Head to head in the League at Upton Park:
Played 38, won 22, drawn 7, lost 9.
Tickets and travel:
Tickets for the fixture are sold out. For up-to-date public
transport information, click
here .
Weather:
The forecast for Wednesday evening is bright and cool, with
temperatures dropping to around 9°C as the night wears on.