Chelsea vs. West Ham
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick off:4pm
Over the last few years, West Ham United have been forced to watch on as London rivals Chelsea embarked on numerous Champions League journeys.
Now, though, as they prepare to travel to Stamford Bridge today, they may find next term that the roles have been reversed.
The 2-0 defeat away at Everton last weekend ensured that it would be a season to forget for everybody connected with Chelsea.
If nothing else, interim boss Guus Hiddink has at least steadied the ship since taking interim charge in December. When the Dutchman strode into Stamford Bridge for a second time, he inherited a team that was just one point above the bottom three.
But, it is worth noting that while Chelsea have lost none of the 13 Premier League matches since Jose Mourinho was sacked, fewer than half of those (six) have ended in victories.
Now, the focus will be on finishing as high up the Premier League as possible. They currently sit 10th, but if they can turn some of those draws into victories, seventh or maybe even sixth position will not be beyond them.
Fourth place is too much of a gap to bridge, though – 11 points to be exact. Nevertheless, the Blues can have a big say on who finishes in the Champions League places given that after West Ham they also face Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City.
At the start of the season, not even the most ardent of West Ham supporters would have put money on their side being just two points outside of the Champions League places with nine matches left to play.
After all, a manager was hired with no previous experience of coaching in the Premier League, while decent-sized fees were splurged on the likes of Dimitri Payet, Angelo Ogbonna, Pedro Obiang and Michail Antonio, none of whom had ever played in England’s top flight.
While many players have contributed, it is hard to ignore the impact made by the classy Payet. The French playmaker has scored eight Premier League goals and assisted a further seven.
He has also proven to be the key man in West Ham’s run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup by scoring stunning free kicks against Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United.
Of course, it all means that those fans that make the short trip to Stamford Bridge today will be doing so in expectation rather than hope, when for so long it has been the other way round.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Ivanovic; Mikel, Matic; Willian, Fabregas, Pedro; Traore
West Ham possible starting lineup:
Adrian; Antonio, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Kouyate, Noble, Lanzini, Payet; Emenike, Carroll