West Ham vs Chelsea Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Ups, Prediction & Betting Tips

Chelsea will look to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table when they take on West Ham on Wednesday night.

The Blues lifted the first piece of silverware of the season after a beating Tottenham 2-0 in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.

However, Jose Mourinho insists the celebrations were short-lived as they prepare to turn their attention back to reclaiming the Premier League title.

Chelsea were given a further boost at the weekend following Manchester City’s loss at Liverpool which leaves them holding a five point lead at the top with a game in hand.

Victory at Upton Park would take Chelsea one step closer to lifting the title and they will face a Hammers side that haven’t won in five games with a 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace last time out seeing them slip to ninth in the table.

Team news

Chelsea have no fresh injury worries to contend with so John Obi Mikel remains the clubs only concern, with the Nigerian ruled out for a further month with a knee injury.

Nemnaja Matic serves the final game of his two-match ban so Ramires should be joined by Cesc Fabregas in midfield with Kurt Zouma expected to drop out having surprisingly started in the holding role on Sunday.

Mourinho could make some changes to freshen things up with Juan Cuadrado, Oscar, Thibaut Courtois and Filipe Luis all pushing for recalls.

West Ham may be without striker Carlton Cole as he continues to struggle with a hamstring injury while Morgan Amalfitano is still suspended.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

West Ham 1-2 Chelsea: The Blues will hope they don’t suffer any Cup final hangover but I’m sure Mourinho will have his players focussed and ready for the task at hand, and I can see them edging this one by the odd goal to claim a vital three points.

Betting Tips

Chelsea are the favourites to win the game at odds of 6/10 but if you’d prefer to bet on the exact scoreline, our 1-2 prediction is on offer at 15/2. I fancy Diego Costa to open the scoring which is available at odds of 4/1 and if I combine that with a 2-1 away win in a scorecast then we get very tempting odds of 20/1. Surely that’s got to be worth a couple of quid!?

BACK CHELSEA TO WIN 2-1 AT ODDS OF 15/2

What team would you like to see start and whats your predicted score for the game?