Angelo Ogbonna is set for a 200th Premier League appearance as David Moyes names an unchanged starting XI from Liverpool for West Ham United’s trip to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.
The 35-year-old Italian made his top-flight bow for the Irons in the memorable 2-0 win at Arsenal in August 2015. Since then, he has lost only four of 12 Premier League meetings with Chelsea, winning five and drawing three.
Approaching nine years in Claret and Blue, Ogbonna will be joined by skipper and former Chelsea player Kurt Zouma, Vladimír Coufal and another former Blue, Emerson, in an unchanged defence from last weekend’s 2-2 draw at London Stadium.
Further forward, Michail Antonio, who looks to follow his effort in the 3-1 win against the Blues earlier this season, could become the first West Ham player to reach 100-goal involvements in the Premier League should he score or assist today.
The No9 could also find the net for the fourth straight game in all competitions.
Elsewhere, Tomáš Souček and Edson Álvarez continue their partnership in midfield, while Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paquetá, and Mohammed Kudus will lead the support of the in-form Antonio.
Bowen needs one more goal to become the West Ham player to net the most goals in a single Premier League season after he equalled Paolo Di Canio’s record (16) last weekend, while Paquetá could score in consecutive starts against the Blues, following his stoppage-time penalty in August.
A strong matchday squad also includes international-capped players James Ward-Prowse, Aaron Cresswell, Łukasz Fabiański, and Maxwel Cornet, who saw his late equaliser ruled out by VAR on last season’s visit to Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, George Earthy, who scored in the U21s’ 4-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on Friday night, returns to the senior substitutes’ bench for the first since he was stretchered off on his Premier League debut against Fulham last month with a concussion.
He is joined by fellow Academy of Football graduates Ben Johnson, Kaelan Casey, and Divin Mubama, although Dinos Mavropanos misses out.
Chelsea: Petrovic, Chalobah, Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella, Gallagher ©, Caicedo, Madueke, Mudryk, Palmer, Jackson
Subs: Bettinelli (GK), Gusto, Disasi, Colwill, Sterling, Nkunku, Casadei, Deivid, Gilchrist
West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Zouma ©, Ogbonna, Emerson, Souček, Álvarez, Paquetá, Kudus, Antonio, Bowen
Subs: Fabiański (GK), Johnson, Cresswell, Ward-Prowse, Cornet, Ings, Earthy, Casey, Mubama
Referee: Andy Madley
