Ziyech To Start, Werner On The Bench: Chelsea’s Predicted XI To Play West Ham

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3 years ago

Categories: Chelsea News, Galleries, Match Previews

Tags: Chelsea, Hakim Ziyech, timo werner, West Ham

Back to back defeats against Everton and Wolves mean Chelsea manager Frank Lampard will want to see a reaction when they face West Ham in the London derby on Monday evening.

The Hammers are in decent form going into the match and have already caused problems against the ‘Big Six’ this season so the Blues will need to be on top of their game.

After playing on Tuesday night, Lampard’s side will have a good six days to prepare for this match so they will have no excuses in terms of fatigue. So who will start at Stamford Bridge?

Press the next page as we go through our predicted starting eleven for the game:

GK – Edouard Mendy

After an error against Everton, the Senegalese international was solid at Molineux and could not have done a lot more to keep out either Wolves goal.

Mendy has now failed to keep a clean sheet in his last three matches, and he will want to put that right on Monday.

RB – Reece James

Wasn’t one of his best nights at Molineux after letting Daniel Podence’s shot deflect off him into the goal, and nearly giving away a penalty.

James has a lot of credit in the bank because of recent performances, though, and it will be hoped that he is back to his best against the Hammers.

CB – Kurt Zouma

Did not cover himself in glory for Pedro Neto’s winner during the week. The Frenchman simply did not have the pace to deal with the Wolves forward in a one-on-one battle.

Zouma should be able to dominate West Ham striker Sebastien Haller in the air, but he will have to keep his eye on the talented Said Benrahma.

CB – Thiago Silva

The Brazilian did make a mistake by not clearing his lines for Daniel Podence’s goal, and while his overall game was solid, that error effectively let Wolves back into the match.

Silva will be coming up against Haller, who is a tricky striker to manage, but you’d back the Chelsea star to come out on top.

LB – Ben Chilwell

After having a difficult time against Alex Iwobi in the 1-0 defeat to Everton last weekend, Chilwell was the best player on the pitch for the Blues against Wolves.

The left-back created Olivier Giroud’s goal and rarely looked troubled when going up against wingback Nelson Semedo.

CM – Mason Mount

Was busy as always but the 21-year-old was never really a direct threat on the Wolves’ goal. West Ham will sit deep and look to frustrate so the midfielder will need to be on his game and provide the forward runs to break down the low block.

Mount is certainly in much better form than Kai Havertz, though, and he is deserving of his place in the starting lineup.

DM – N’Golo Kante

Looking back to his best now, the Frenchman was breaking up play versus Wolves whilst also being useful in possession and setting up attacks.

Kante seems to be over the worst of his injury problems now and if he can stay fit for a lengthy period, he’ll be a huge help in Chelsea getting the results they need.

CM – Kai Havertz

The German’s form is worrying but it appears Lampard is determined to play him through this poor spell and see if he can come through the other side.

Mateo Kovacic or Jorginho would be the main two alternatives to Havertz but neither of those players would be that helpful in breaking down a stubborn West Ham defence.

RW – Hakim Ziyech

The Moroccan international returned to full training yesterday, and it will be up to Lampard to decide whether a few days is enough for him to have fully recovered.

Ziyech was badly missed in the defeats to Everton and Wolves. His creativity is badly needed but there will be a risk to him starting, with a recurrence of the hamstring injury a possibility.

CF – Olivier Giroud

It would be hard to justify taking the Frenchman out of the starting eleven after he scored another goal against Wolves.

Lampard should look to take advantage of Giroud’s red-hot form in front of goal while he can, and then look at other options if things begin to dry up.

LW – Christian Pulisic

The American started off very brightly versus Wolves, causing all sorts of problems for Nelson Semedo on the left-wing but his lack of fitness meant he did wilt in the second half.

Hopefully, with a full 90 minutes under his belt, we will see an even livelier Pulisic in the derby on Monday.