West Ham United will host Chelsea in the opening fixture of Round 23 in the English Premier League. Both these London sides are struggling to find their form, with the Hammers just sitting above the relegation zone and the Blues sitting outside the European places. Chelsea will have an edge over West Ham, which also won the reverse fixture 2-1.
West Ham United sits 17th in the league table with five wins, four draws, and 12 losses. They played to a 1-1 draw in the last round against Newcastle United. David Moyes’ men have netted 18 goals with an average xG rate of 1.46. The defence has leaked 26 goals with an average xGA rate of 1.13.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are sitting ninth in the league table with eight wins, six draws, and seven losses. The Blues are unbeaten in their last three matches, with the last two matches ending in draws. Chelsea have scored 22 goals and conceded 21. Their average xG rate is 1.34, and the xGA rate is 1.4.
We now look at some of the stats of the teams that could predict the outcome of the match.
How have the teams performed?
The above viz shows the percentile rank of the teams in comparison to the other teams in the English Premier League as well as amongst each other. Chelsea are likely to dominate possession. The Blues average 57.6% possession and attempt 529.9 passes per match. West Ham United averages 43.67% possession and attempts 391.76 passes per match. The Hammers attempt more crosses than the opposition and other teams in the league. Overall, Chelsea have performed better than the Hammers in the league.
West Ham United’s gameplan
West Ham United are struggling in the league this season. Their main difficulties are in the attack. The Hammers average 28.76 positional attacks and 1.9 counterattacks per match. They take 12.38 shots and have an accuracy rate of 28.8%. The above viz shows their stats from the last match. The first image shows the average position of the player and the pass links. West Ham United focus on creating their attacks from the left side. The positional attacks visual shows that they attacked more through the central zones in that match.
Chelsea’s gameplan
Chelsea have a lot of new recruits in their lineup. Most of them have been made to improve the attack as well as the defence. The Blues average 30.05 positional attacks and 1.9 counterattacks per match. They have a low average of 10.67 shots at a 33.9% accuracy rate. Chelsea tried to attack from both flanks. Their full-backs will be the key in this match.
Key Players
Jarrod Bowen will be the key player in the attack for the Hammers. He has scored four goals in the current season. The 26-year-old scored a brace in West Ham’s win over Everton. He will look to add more goals to his tally.
Mason Mount will be the key member in Chelsea’s attack. He has scored three goals and has two assists to his name. Post-World Cup he has only scored one goal. The Englishman will the hungry to get on the scoresheet and help his team register a win.
Team news
The hosts have a few injury concerns. Maxwel Cornet and former Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma are ruled out. Gianluca Scamacca is also in doubt for this match. Thilo Kehrer and Alphonse Areola also remain in doubt for this match.
Chelsea have no new injury concerns in their camp. Graham Potter will be delighted with the return of Reece James and Ben Chilwell.
Betting Analysis
As per the 1×2 betting odds, Chelsea are the favourites to win this match. They have odds of around 2.2 to win this match. West Ham United have an average odds win rate of around 3.4, while the chances of draws have an odds rate of around 3.3. Chelsea haven’t been at the top of their game and are struggling to take three points from their matches. As for the over/under lines, both teams just average around one goal per game. So there are chances that this match might end with a low score. However, with the situation these two teams are in, both teams will look to score as many goals as they can.
Chelsea will look to return to winning ways and so will West Ham United. This is likely to be a tight match with either team capable of taking three points.
Visuals via Wyscout and the TFA data viz engine
