West Ham v Chelsea Preview: stopping Hazard

Hazard in good form for Chelsea – metro.co.uk

When Chelsea beat Newcastle 3-1 last week, they and Eden Hazard fired West Ham a warning that they cannot afford any defensive lapses.

The Hammers must learn from Toon’s mistakes because not only did they not stick to their game plan with the required energy and diligence, it could be questioned whether they had the right game plan altogether.

With nine outfield players in their defensive third at times, not one of them man marked Hazard, allowing him to drift beyond Alvaro Morata and into the gaps between the three centre-backs. West Ham, who themselves play with three at the back, need a midfielder to do that job on the Belgian. Perhaps Pedro Obiang could fit the bill, having put in an outstanding performance in the first half of last week’s 2-1 loss at Man City.

Edimilson Fernandes put forward a good case to play alongside the Spaniard in this London Derby, but the Irons will be without the injured Cheikhou Kouyate. Mark Noble could return to contention to replace him but it may not be the greatest coincidence that his teammates have performed better without the 30-year-old, whose performance levels have dipped alarmingly over the last 18 months.

West Ham need players with the energy to compete throughout. Even if they don’t challenge for the ball, as they didn’t so much on Sunday, the midfield needs to be in the right position all the time, closing off space. If they do that well, they must also hope for an off-day for Cesc Fabregas, who has been in impressive form.

The ex-Barca man averages 3.2 key passes per game (WhoScored) – more than any other player in the Premier League bar Mesut Ozil. It is difficult to stop Fabregas on his day, because if he’s not put under any pressure, he can find searching passes into wide areas, but if he is, he can slot clever balls through the gaps.

That’s why West Ham need to keep the ball off him by passing with the kind of accuracy they did in the first half at Man City. After the break, measured forward balls to feet became up-field punts to an isolated Diafra Sakho or Michail Antonio, which allowed wave upon wave of attacks to come their way. If they can keep the ball off Chelsea for some periods, that limits the amount of damage Hazard and Fabregas can do.

If the Irons can improve in those areas, we saw in the Leicester game the kind of atmosphere that fans create at the London Stadium – and they could have an influence on this derby.

Although Chelsea remain strong, they are not infallible, especially following European action: the Blues have only taken 12 points from their last 11 Premier League games that have come the weekend after a Champions League clash.

Antonio Conte’s side deserved to beat Atletico Madrid in midweek but the Italian fielded a strong side for that 1-1 draw. The challenge for West Ham therefore, is to replicate what they did so well for 45 minutes last week for the whole 90 this time around. Do that and they might just have a chance.

The Football Lab’s Verdict: 1-0