Chelsea should win comfortably here.

The London derby is crucial for the Blues, who have followed up their 17-game unbeaten run with back-to-back losses on the road.

In spite of their position in the table (8th) and the last results (3 last games winless), is a team who should go up again very soon. Indeed, winning this match would achieve the same points as Tottenham (5th) and just one below UCL zone.

They can’t afford another defeat here, being the third in a row (first time since 2015), especially due to the next meetings: Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City. Frank Lampard has so many attacking options available, it's easy for him to take an out-of-form player out of the lineup and replace him with a top-quality replacement. For example, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz have looked a little jaded in recent weeks so freshening it up with Callum Hudson-Odoi or Hakim Zieych should kick Chelsea back into gear. Furthermore, Christian Pulisic showed moments of real quality in the defeat at Wolves - he might be about to hit top form.

The involvement of Hakim Ziyech at some point in the game, if not from the start, should see Chelsea return to winning ways.

On the other side, West Ham is having a fantastic season so far. Only two defeats against Liverpool and Manchester United in the last 7 games. But the truth is that against strong sides in the Premier League, The Hammers suffered a lot. Made two miracles against Manchester City (1:1 with 30% possession, 2 shots made and 14 conceded, including posts) and Tottenham (3:3, at 82’ they were 3:0 down); but their performances against strong sides were always the same: were dominated and deserved to lose.

They are a very defensive team, and the plan for this match is clear: give the ball to Chelsea, and try to find chances at counters. Their matches against strong sides were played with just 30-35% possession, and if you give the ball to a strong side with too many alternatives like Chelsea, most probably will lose, as they did against Liverpool for example.

Chelsea has bigger motivation, as West Ham is in a very quiet position while Chelsea needs the victory, which is almost mandatory here. The visitors enter this game in high spirits, even if they were held in midweek, but I can see Chelsea's squad depth helping them pull through this final pre-Christmas fixture.

切尔西在这里应该可以轻松获胜。

伦敦德比赛对于蓝军至关重要，蓝军客场保持着17场不败的势头。

尽管他们只排在积分榜第8，最近的结果也不是很好，但他们应该很快就会反弹。赢得这场比赛将获得与热刺（第5名）相同的积分，仅低于欧冠区域一位。

他们不能接受再次失利，否则将是他们连续第三场输球（自2015年以来首次），尤其是由于接下来比赛的对手：阿森纳，阿斯顿维拉和曼城。弗兰克·兰帕德（Frank Lampard）拥有很多进攻选择，对于他来说，很容易将状态不佳的球员排除在阵容之外，而状态更好的替补球员代替。例如最近几周，蒂莫·沃纳（Timo Werner）和凯·哈维兹（Kai Havertz）看上去有些疲惫，因此与卡勒姆·哈德森-奥多伊（Callum Hudson-Odoi）或哈基姆·齐耶赫（Hakim Zieych）获得更多的时间。此外，克里斯蒂安·普利西奇（Christian Pulisic）在与狼队的比赛中展示了自己的实力，他可能很快会回到最佳状态。

即使不是首发，哈基姆·齐耶奇（Hakim Ziyech）也会在比赛的某个阶段登场，这应该使切尔西重回胜利法宝。

另一方面，西汉姆联到目前为止表现出色。在过去的7场比赛中，只在对阵利物浦和曼联的比赛仅有两次失利。但是事实是，在英超联赛中面对强悍的对手，他们踢得十分艰难。对曼彻斯特城（1：1，拥有30％的控球率，射门2次，被射门14次）和托特纳姆热刺（3：3，在82分时他们仍然以0：3落后）创造了两个奇迹；他们在面对强队时的表现始终是相同的：被控制球权并且理应输球。

他们是一支非常保守的球队，这场比赛的计划很明确：将球交给切尔西，并尝试在反击中寻找机会。他们对阵强敌通常只有30-35％的控球率，如果他们给到强队这么多控球率很可能会输，例如他们之前对阵利物浦。

切尔西有更强的动力，因为西汉姆处于非常安全的位置，而切尔西需要胜利，所以本场的三分对于切尔西来说是必须的。即使他们在周三踢了比赛，但是切尔西的阵容深度应该可以帮助他们度过圣诞节前的最后比赛。