CHELSEA
Premier League, Stamford Bridge, Saturday 3 September 2022, 3pm BST
West Ham United head to west London for the second consecutive Premier League derby on Saturday, with a trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.
The Irons were beaten 1-0 at Chelsea in April, when Christian Pulisic netted in the final minute to break Hammers’ hearts after Łukasz Fabiański had saved Jorginho’s late penalty and seemingly earned his team a point.
Since then, both clubs have undertaken big changes to their playing squads, with West Ham making eight summer signings, while the Blues have allowed forwards Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner to return to their former clubs, sold centre-backs Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen and signed England forward Raheem Sterling, centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, left-back Marc Cucurella, midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka and, late in the window, French defender Wesley Fofana and former Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The new-look Chelsea’s results have been mixed at time of writing, with win at Everton and home to Leicester City, a home draw with Tottenham Hotspur and defeats at Leeds United and Southampton.
How to get there…
Stamford Bridge is well served by public transport, like most London stadia.
The nearest London Underground station is Fulham Broadway, which is on the District line’s Wimbledon branch.
To get there from central London, take a Wimbledon-bound train from Earl’s Court station, which is on the Circle and Piccadilly lines. Earl’s Court station itself is also within 20 minutes’ walk of Stamford Bridge.
Alternatively, one can reach Stamford Bridge by London Overground direct from Stratford, with West Brompton and Imperial Wharf stations on the Clapham Junction route a 15-minute walk away from the ground.
Various buses pass the stadium on Fulham Road, including the 14 (from Euston Square to Putney), 211 (from Waterloo Station to Hammersmith), 414 (from Maida Vale to Putney Bridge), 11 (from Liverpool Street), 28 (from Kensal Rise), 296 (from Ladbroke Grove and Clapham Junction), and 391 (from Richmond).
Where to stay…
I mean, let’s face it, you’re unlikely to be staying overnight for a Saturday afternoon kick-off in west London, but if you’re travelling to London from outside the capital, there are literally thousands of hotels, guest houses, apartments and more to choose from all over the city if you need overnight accommodation.
If you’d like to stay near the stadium, the local area is served by a huge range of accommodation options from affordable to luxury!
What to do…
London, of course, has attractions for all the family and to suit all budgets and tastes.
While the capital’s top tourist spots are well-known, if you’re looking for something specific to do, hop online and go to visitlondon.com!
Locally, Hyde Park (pictured, above) and Kensington Palace are situated a couple of miles to the north.
Kensington Palace is the official residence of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children. The State Rooms are open to the public and managed by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces and house a number of interesting historical exhibitions about Royal life.
The 350-acre Hyde Park features the Diana Memorial Fountain, Speakers’ Corner, the famous Serpentine and much more.
What’s happened there before…
As stated in the introduction, we were beaten 1-0 at Stamford Bridge last season, and 3-0 the season before that…
We have enjoyed some memorable days there in the Premier League era, though, including a 1-0 victory achieved in November 2019 courtesy of Aaron Cresswell’s rare right-footed strike.
Prior to that, we also won there in October 1994 (2-1), February 1996 (2-1), March 1999 (1-0) and September 2002 (3-2).
Our most memorable visit to Chelsea was a 4-0 victory achieved in March 1986, when Frank McAvennie, Tony Cottee (two) and Alan Devonshire got the goals as John Lyall’s side continued their march towards a record-high third-place First Division finish.
