Chelsea v West Ham preview

At 3pm Saturday afternoon Chelsea host West Ham for what is a vital game for both teams. For Chelsea another loss could seriously damage their Championship charge, whilst for us every point counts at the other end of the table - so if we can get anything from this game it will be a huge bonus ahead of another tricky game away to Arsenal next week.

The main thing is putting in a couple of good team performances so moral is high going into the home games against Wolves & Stoke – 2 games that ‘should’ give us a very good chance of survival if we win them both.

Not much change on the team front except for the return to full training for Benni McCarthy who could, if deemed match fit, figure alongside Carlton Cole for the first time since going off injured on his debut. Personally I would like to see Mido get the nod to start up front with Cole, with Franco dropping to the bench. Apart from that I don’t see Zola (Clarke) making too many changes from the team that faced Bolton last week. However it will be interesting to see if Dyer gets a rare start (providing he doesn’t break a leg warming up) and what can be done about the problems we have been experiencing down the left hand side. Chelsea will look to exploit that area of the pitch so Zola/Clarkes tactical ability, which has been questioned heavily this season, will once again be under scrutiny.

This game could go one of two ways – we will fold easily as we did against Man U a couple of weeks ago and end up losing 3 or 4 nil... or... we will put in a battling display that will see us walk away singing ‘BUBBLES’ with a point (or three) in the bag. If we frustrate them from the off, get at them and break up their play, I think we can get something from this. The only question is whether we have the players with the passion and the fight to put in that kind of a performance.

I’m expecting a lively game here with a few nerves from both sides - watch the Chelsea v West Ham live stream here at www.hammerstv.com and chat to other Hammers fans at the same time.

PH

COYI