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

Chelsea kick off the festive period when they welcome high-flying West Ham United to Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day.

The Blues restored their three-point lead at the top of the Premier League table with a comfortable 2-0 win at Stoke City on Monday night thanks to goals from John Terry and Cesc Fabregas.

The win ensures Chelsea are sitting top of the tree at Christmas but Jose Mourinho will know he’s in for a tough afternoon against a resurgent West Ham side tomorrow.

Sam Allardyce’s men have been hugely impressive so far this season and head to the Bridge sitting fourth in the table having lost just once in the league since September, so they’ll be confident they can pull off a shock result tomorrow.

Team news

Chelsea have a doubt of playmaker Eden Hazard after he picked up an ankle injury at the Britannia Stadium last time out and with key games against Southampton and Tottenham coming up, Mourinho is unlikely to take any chances.

Willian and Oscar could get recalls after being left on the bench at Stoke, and they could join Andre Schurrle in attack with Cesc Fabregas dropping back into midfield.

West Ham will hand late fitness tests to midfielder Mark Noble centre-back James Tomkins with the duo struggling to shake off knocks.

Otherwise, Allardyce has a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

Chelsea 2-0 West Ham: The Blues have a formidable record at home once again under Mourinho and while West Ham could make life difficult, I can’t see past another Chelsea victory.

Betting Tips

Chelsea are understandably the heavy favourites tomorrow but new customers can get enhanced odds of 4-1 on Chelsea winning with Betfair. A 2-0 win for the Blues is on offer at 13/2 while our other tip is Andre Schurrle to open the scoring at 5/1, and if we combine those two bets in a scorecast, then we get very tempting odds of 22/1. Surely that’s got to be worth a couple of quid!?

BACK CHELSEA TO WIN AT CRAZY ODDS OF 4/1 + MONEY BACK IF YOU LOSE

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