Chelsea have failed to get their campaign going and they suffered yet another loss, this time going down 2-1 to Southampton in midweek.
Tuchel needs to fix a lot of things but he won’t have to time set up a new blueprint because Chelsea take the field once again on Saturday. This time, they face West Ham United, a side who have just held Conte’s side to a draw.
The Hammers have also made a very poor start to their campaign but the 1-1 draw will have given them a lot of hope so Chelsea will need to be at their absolute best or else they are going to stumble again.
The transfer window would have ended by Thursday night and hopefully, Tuchel gets a couple of new signings because his current bunch of players are really struggling to pick up pace. Currently, Chelsea are ninth on the Premier League table so anything other than a win will push them to the bottom of the table.
Chelsea are undefeated in 16 of their last 17 home matches against West Ham in all competitions but with the kind of form they are in right now, it’s very hard to predict an easy win for them.
Chelsea team news and possible rotations:
The manager is dealing with a series of injuries and both Chalobah and Reece James were missing in midweek. Chalobah is going to miss out with a knee injury but James could be back because he’s just out with a virus.
Fofana has joined from Leicester City and he will be in line to make his debut for the club this weekend. Cucurella has successfully made the left-back/wing-back position his own so Ben Chilwell will once be on the bench.
Southampton shock Chelsea ⚡️😯 pic.twitter.com/YN4UM0ec0v
— 433 (@433) August 30, 2022
The midfield area is where all the problems lie for the manager because Loftus-Cheek picked up a hamstring injury against the Saints so he is likely to miss out while N’Golo Kante is ruled out.
Mateo Kovacic might not be fit enough to start on Saturday so the manager might have no other option but to use Mount and Gallagher alongside Jorginho.
If Mount does move into midfield then Kai Havertz will be able to hold onto his place in the final third. Hakim Ziyech was one of the better players for Chelsea in midweek so the manager should hand him another start.
Chelsea badly need a goalscorer right now and they have signed Aubameyang from Barcelona. The deal will be wrapped up on deadline day but we don’t think he will get his work permit in time to play on Saturday afternoon.
Chelsea predicted line up vs West Ham United:
Predicted Starting XI(4-3-3): Mendy; James, Cucurella, Koulibaly, Fofana/Silva; Jorginho, Gallagher, Mount/ Kovacic; Havertz, Ziyech, Sterling.
