Paul Merson is expecting Chelsea FC to drop points at the London Stadium on Saturday lunchtime, tipping West Ham to hold the Premier League leaders to a draw.
The Blues battled to a 2-1 win against Watford in their mid-week fixture thanks to Hakim Ziyech’s second-half winner after Mason Mount’s opener was cancelled out by Emmanuel Bonaventure.
Chelsea FC’s narrow victory in the derby clash at Vicarage Road helped Thomas Tuchel’s side to make a swift return to winning ways following a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
West Ham were 3-2 winners against Liverpool FC before the international break last month to hoist themselves above Jurgen Klopp’s side and into third position in the table.
But the Hammers currently find themselves in fourth place following successive losses to Wolves and Manchester City before Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Brighton at the London Stadium.
Former Arsenal midfielder Merson is still backing West Ham to earn a point in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea FC in Saturday’s early kick-off.
“West Ham have gone backwards ever since they got into the Premier League top four,” Merson told Sportskeeda.
“They can’t seem to win a match now – they’ve failed to win their last three games. This is a big game for West Ham, though, and they will be tighter at the back than they were against Brighton.
“Chelsea got lucky against Watford this week and haven’t been at their best this week. I’d play Romelu Lukaku in this match – West Ham’s biggest threat comes from set plays and Chelsea could use a player of Lukaku’s build.
“Chelsea are not playing particularly well at the moment and this game could turn out to be a draw.”
West Ham have won three of their last six home games against Chelsea FC in the Premier League but the leaders managed to complete the league double over their London rivals in the 2020-21 season.
Chelsea FC have lost just one of their last 14 Premier League games in the current campaign as Thomas Tuchel’s side continue to lead Manchester City and Liverpool FC in the title race.
The Blues will be without N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ben Chilwell for the trip to the London Stadium but Tuchel provided a positive update on Reece James at his pre-match media conference on Friday.
“Jorginho, Timo Werner and Reece James are training and available,” said Tuchel.
“We did not train with Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo, Ben Chilwell and Trevoh Chalobah, and they are all out.
“It’s a lot of midfield players. We have missed Kova for many weeks, and also NG. Ben Chilwell is a long one. For Trevoh we need more examinations to see how bad the injury is.”