Chelsea v West Ham United, Premier League: Preview and Probable Teams

Chelsea host West Ham United in this Sunday game, looking to keep pressure on Tottenham and stay ahead of Arsenal in the race for Champions League football next season. The west London club were surprised 3-1 at Upton Park in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

Where to Watch

Kick-off is set for 4pm GMT. Highlights are available on Match of the Day 2, on BBC One and BBC One HD, from 10.25pm GMT.

Overview

Chelsea come into this game after a comfortable 3-1 win over Romanians Steaua Bucuresti in a midweek Europa League game. The Blues advanced to the quarter final of the tournament after winning 3-2 on aggregate.

Overall though, Chelsea are not exactly in the best of form. The win last midweek was their first, in any competition, since an early March defeat of West Brom, at home. That was a scrappy win and had Rafael Benitez exited European competition against Bucuresti, the pressure ahead of the Hammers' visit would have been very high indeed.

In the league, the hosts for Sunday's game are third, two points behind former boss Andre Villas-Boas and Tottenham. The good news is they have a game in hand. Champions League qualification is an absolute must for the Blues and so Benitez will also have an eye over his shoulder at Arsenal, who are also only two points adrift.

Home form favours Chelsea in this fixture. The Blues have won eight of 14 games at the Bridge, scoring 31 goals (second only to Manchester United and Arsenal) and conceding only 12 (second to Manchester City). And the second bit of good news is that scrappy results aside, Chelsea are unbeaten at home, in any competition, since the 9 January defeat to Swansea City.

West Ham come to the Bridge after an excellent 1-0 win at Stoke. The Hammers are 12th in the league, with 33 points from 28 games and have a comfortable nine-point gap to Wigan Athletic in the final relegation spot.

The problem for Sam Allardyce, in this game, is that his away form has been poor - nine defeats in 14 games, with 24 goals conceded. Expect Chelsea to score a few by the final whistle. West Ham's last five league games have yielded only two wins and they've conceded eight times.

Team Form

Chelsea

• Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): W D L W W
• Last Result: Chelsea 3 - 1 Steaua Bucureşti

West Ham

• Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): W L L W L
• Last Result: Stoke City 0 - 1 West Ham

Team News

Ex-Barcelona man Oriol Romeu (knee) is the only absentee for the hosts. Spain striker Fernando Torres is likely to keep his place in the side after scoring midweek, with Senegalese Demba Ba on the bench if needed. Nigerian Victor Moses could be given a start as Benitez looks to rotate his options. Finally, veteran midfielder Frank Lampard should be ready to start as well.

Probable Line-Up: Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Cole; Lampard, Ramires; Mata, Oscar, Moses; Torres.

Ex-Liverpool player Joe Cole (hamstring), George McCartney (knee) and Kevin Nolan (ankle) are all unavailable. Another former Liverpool player, Andy Carroll is though, and he will lead the attack. Portuguese winger Ricardo Vaz Te may also start, to provide some pace on the counter.

Probable Line-Up: Jaaskelainen; O'Brien, Reid, Collins, Pogatetz; Collison, Diamé, Taylor, Jarvis; Vaz Te; Carroll