Preview - Chelsea

stadiumsign

 

When and where?

 West Ham United v Chelsea
EFL Cup fourth round
Wednesday 26 October 2016, 7.45pm BST
London Stadium
 

What’s the story?

 West Ham United host their first London derby at their new home on Wednesday when Chelsea make the trip across town for an EFL Cup fourth round tie.
 
Slaven Bilic’s men come into the game with an improved run of form behind them, having followed up a draw with Middlesbrough by beating Crystal Palace and Sunderland by 1-0 scorelines in their last two Premier League outings.
 
Chelsea, too, will be pleased with their recent results, having recovered from a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal by defeating Hull, Leicester City and then most impressively Manchester United by four unanswered goals at the weekend.
 
Three straight wins achieved since Blues boss Antonio Conte went back to his favoured three at the back formation has lifted them to fourth in the league table, just a point behind leaders Manchester City.
 
In the Cup, Chelsea won their third round tie after coming from two goals down against last season’s league winners Leicester.
 
A Shinji Okazaki double looked to have put the Foxes in a strong position, but Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta netted to force an additional 30 minutes, in which Cesc Fabregas notched twice to secure a 4-2 victory.

That followed a 3-2 win over League One side Bristol Rovers in round two, while West Ham booked their place at this stage of the competition by beating Accrington Stanley by the only goal of the game in the third round.
 

Team news

 Slaven Bilic has indicated that he will play as strong a side as possible on Wednesday, with progress in this competition one of his key aims.
 
Aaron Cresswell returns to the squad following a suspension, while goalkeeper Darren Randolph has featured in Europe and in cup competitions for the Hammers this term, but has been absent from the bench for the last two games due to a minor injury.
 
Andre Ayew has recently returned to training, but Andy Carroll, Arthur Maskuaku (both knee), Gokhan Tore (quadriceps), Sam Byram (hamstring) and Diafra Sakho (back) remain out.
 
For Chelsea, they will have to assess Fabregas (thigh) and Branislav Ivanovic (muscle), while Kurt Zouma has returned to training but is not ready to face the Hammers.
 
Brazilian duo Willian and Oscar are in contention after returning from their homeland following the death of the former’s mother and latter’s grandfather.
 

How do I get to the game?

 Supporters heading to London Stadium on Wednesday should arrive early for the game and take note of important information at this link.
 
The latest travel news on the trains can be found here, and click here for news on the roads, Underground, London Overground and TfL rail services.
 

How can I watch the game?

 This match is not being broadcast live in the UK. However, you can follow all the action as it happens on whufc.com, with live audio commentary in our Match Centre. Here, you can also stay abreast of the action with in-running social media updates, stats, photos and more.  Get involved in the conversation on social using #WHUCHE