Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has described his side’s upcoming match against West Ham as their “most dangerous” fixture.
Chelsea play London rivals West Ham this Sunday afternoon in the Premier League, which sees eighth host ninth at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues go into the weekend’s fixture fresh off yesterday’s 2-0 home win over Tottenham, so they remain in the hunt for the European positions.
Mauricio Pochettino warning to Chelsea squad
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has immediately warned his squad about the threat of facing West Ham despite the highs of the Spurs win this week.
He’s explained that his group, which is severely depleted because of injuries, has a “dangerous” showdown with David Moyes’ side.
West Ham haven’t played since a 2-2 draw with Liverpool last Saturday, so will the few extra days of rest and preperation work in their favour?
“It is the most dangerous game because now we have to keep the same mentality for Sunday,!” Pochettino said via Chelsea’s official website.
“We are playing a team who are so strong, have physicality and West Ham are having a fantastic season and have been competing in Europe.
“For us, we need to recover the players. We do not have too many options to add fresh people to the squad and they have had the whole week to prepare. That is why the most dangerous games are coming.”
Blues record against West Ham
Chelsea and West Ham have been pretty evenly matched in recent years.
However, it was the Irons who ran out 3-1 winners the last time the clubs met in the reverse fixture back in August.
- West Ham v Chelsea – 3-2 (Dec 2021)
- Chelsea v West Ham – 1-0 (Apr 2022)
- Chelsea v West Ham – 2-1 (Sep 2022)
- West Ham v Chelsea – 1-1 (Feb 2023)
- West Ham v Chelsea – 3-1 (Aug 2023)