Predicted XI

Ziyech and Hudson-Odoi available? How Chelsea could line-up against West Ham

The last Premier League match before Christmas takes place on Monday in a crunch London derby

 
10:06am on Monday 21st December 2020
By
Martin Macdonald

Chelsea are looking to get back to winning ways on Monday against West Ham after two straight Premier League defeats against Everton and Wolves.

The Blues were on a magnificent run before that and manager Frank Lampard will be tasked with getting their assault on the top four going again after dropping down to 13th in the table.

Lampard could be boosted by the return of two key players to his matchday squad on Monday, with Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi completing full training over the weekend after recovering from hamstring injuries.

Due to the nature of the injuries, though, they might not feature from the start, which could see Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, and Christian Pulisic start behind lone striker Olivier Giroud again.

Havertz hasn't been in the best of form recently, with Lampard having to publicly back their biggest signing of the summer. Therefore, it seems unlikely that he would be dropped from the starting XI after being given a vote of confidence from his manager.

That will likely mean a central midfield duo of Mason Mount and N'Golo Kante again, though Mateo Kovacic is pushing for a start after coming off the bench against Wolves.

Reece James recently had a scan on a knee injury he has been playing through over the past few weeks and might not be available here depending on the results.

If he can't play, club captain Cesar Azpilicueta will be recalled to the starting XI alongside Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, and Ben Chilwell.

Chelsea v West Ham: Predicted XI

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