
The Football Faithful
·22. August 2025
West Ham United vs Chelsea – Match preview and team news

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Yahoo sportsThe Football Faithful
·22. August 2025
West Ham United face Chelsea in a Friday night London derby at the London Stadium, with both teams under pressure to deliver a performance.
Graham Potter’s Hammers are seeking a swift response after a dismal defeat, while they welcome a Chelsea team determined to turn an opening-day draw into a victory.
West Ham, reeling from a 3-0 loss at Sunderland, will look to their summer reinforcements to help turn their fortunes around. Meanwhile, Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea aim to build on a solid defensive start against Crystal Palace.
After the poor defensive performance at Sunderland, Graham Potter may choose to make changes to his starting backline for the match against Chelsea. Further up the pitch, more changes are expected. Forward Callum Wilson and midfielder Tomáš Souček both appeared from the bench in the opener and are now pushing for starting places as Potter looks for a reaction from his side.
Enzo Maresca faces key selection decisions in both defence and attack for Chelsea’s upcoming match. In defence, club captain Reece James is set to start at right-back. The main dilemma is at centre-back, though Maresca has confirmed Tosin Adarabioyo is available after missing the draw with Crystal Palace.
In attack, there is strong competition for places. Jamie Gittens, Estêvão, Liam Delap, and João Pedro are all vying for starting roles. However, Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku will not be considered, as they have been left out of the squad ahead of expected transfers before the September 1st deadline.
The season began in the worst possible fashion for West Ham, who were comfortably beaten 3-0 by newly-promoted Sunderland. The manner of the second-half collapse has put immediate pressure on Graham Potter to secure a positive result in the first home game of the campaign.
Chelsea began their season with a frustrating 0-0 draw at home to Crystal Palace, a result that highlighted a disconnect in their expensive new-look attack. Despite starting with a forward line costing close to £250m, the Blues mustered just three shots on target. While Enzo Maresca will know his array of new talent needs time to gel, pressure will be on to find a clinical edge against West Ham.
West Ham United predicted XI: Hermansen; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Aguerd, Diouf; Souček, Ward-Prowse; Bowen, Paquetá, Füllkrug.
Chelsea predicted XI: Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Tosin, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Estêvão, Palmer, Neto; João Pedro.
The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, and Sky Sports Ultra HDR in the UK. Pre-match coverage is scheduled to begin at 7pm BST. Subscribers can also stream the action live via the Sky Go app.