Tactically speaking
The Official Website and WhoScored.com take a tactical look forward to West Ham United's Barclays Premier League trip to Chelsea on Wednesday.
The focus is on Jose Mourinho's squad and a Hammers midfielder who is set to return to league action following a suspension..
West Ham United
In the corresponding fixture earlier this season Chelsea came away from the Boleyn Ground with all three points thanks to two goals from former Hammer Frank Lampard and one from Oscar to give them a 3-0 win.
Chelsea have the second best home record in the league and have taken 31 points out of a possible 33 - only Manchester City have a better record. The only points the Blues have dropped at Stamford Bridge this season came in 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion in November.
The Hammers would be wise to look to the stalemate as inspiration for the upcoming London derby as third placed Chelsea look to secure their fourth Premier League title.
Looking at the statistically calculated WhoScored.com match summary from that the encounter, Chelsea 'committed a high number of individual errors', a weakness West Ham should look to capitalise on if they are going to come away from Stamford Bridge with a share of the spoils at least.
Kevin Nolan in particular has made a habit of finding himself in the right place at the right time this season and operating in a more advanced position will allow the 31-year-old to maximise his goal-getting ability should any errors occur in the Chelsea defence.
Indeed, John Terry has been responsible for two errors that have led to a shot on the Blues goal this season, with only Sébastien Bassong (four), Ashley Williams, Ryan Shawcross and Chico Flores (all three) committing more of every Premier League centre-back this season.
Should Terry be at fault in the defensive third, Nolan can profit on these errors and punish the Chelsea backline, especially as Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has committed two errors that have led to the Czech conceding a goal this term, one of which came against West Brom.
Moreover, his knack of being in the right place at the right time has seen the midfielder net 24 goals in his previous 83 league appearances, an average of a goal every 3.5 games, a decent return for a player in his position. With the likes of Andy Carroll, Modibo Maiga and Carlton Cole all available to manager Sam Allardyce, the trio boasting WhoScored.com strengths of 'aerial duels', Nolan will be able to capitalise on any knockdowns in and around the 18-yard box to improve his goal tally.
If Nolan is able to perform, there's the potential for West Ham to come away from West London with all three points and put a dent in Chelsea's title push.
The Hammers will also be looking to build on the five clean sheets they have kept away from home already this season.
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