English Premier
2025-08-22 - West Ham United vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Friday 22nd August 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
West Ham United
Alarm bells will already be ringing around the London Stadium after West Ham United's embarrassing capitulation on the opening weekend of the season. That would have been the case no matter where they had played, but the fact that West Ham United were thumped by one of the newly-promoted clubs will have been a real worry for the fans and puts Graham Potter under immediate pressure.
It is not as if West Ham United had been in tremendous form in the second half of the season in 2024/25 after Graham Potter had been appointed and so this already feels like a very big game in front of the home supporters on Friday night. Another underwhelming effort will create a toxic atmosphere under the lights and West Ham United only finished with a 5-5-9 record at the London Stadium last time around.
West Ham United had shown some decent form in pre-season and had lost 1 of the last 4 Premier League games to close out the last campaign, but the 3-0 defeat at Sunderland is a huge blow. The Hammers have not won any of their last 5 Premier League games at the London Stadium and they have lost to Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest in that time.
George Earthy, Luis Guilherme and Crysencio Summerville are all expected to miss out. Callum Wilson is hoping to be involved from the start, while Edson Alvarez has been linked with a move away. New goalkeeper Mads Hermansen had a poor debut, but should retain the gloves.
Chelsea
Twelve months ago, Chelsea were beaten 0-2 on the opening weekend of the Premier League season and they were fortunate not to suffer another home defeat last Sunday when Crystal Palace had a goal disallowed. Enzo Maresca will feel his team had chances to win the game after the controversial decision to rule out a Eberechi Eze free kick, but the goalless draw will be a disappointment for a fanbase with increased expectations.
Winning the Club World Cup to add to the Conference League will do that, although Chelsea still feel short of the qualities of the three clubs that finished above them last season. There is always some pressure on the manager in this part of West London and so Enzo Maresca will be looking for a positive reaction from his team following the draw last weekend. The Blues had an 8-4-7 away record in the top flight in the last season.
Chelsea are unbeaten in 6 games in all competitions, but the 3 game winning run to win the Club World Cup was ended in the draw with Crystal Palace. That result does mean Chelsea have lost 1 of their last 9 Premier League games, while the side have been victorious in 4 of the last 5 away games played in all competitions.
Tosin Adarabioyo has been tipped up as a potential early replacement for Levi Colwell, but he picked up a late injury which ruled him out of the game last Sunday. He has to be considered a doubt, but Nicolas Jackson is back from suspension. The manager may choose to freshen up his attack after the goalless draw with The Eagles, although Joao Pedro is expected to be given another opportunity ahead of Liam Delap.
Head to Head
Chelsea did the Premier League double over West Ham United last season.
The had won 1 of 7 previous visits to West Ham United and had been beaten 4 times in that run, but Chelsea were comfortable 0-3 winners at the London Stadium in September 2024.
Prediction
Both of these sets of supporters will be disappointed with opening weekend results and that does put some pressure on the players when West Ham United host Chelsea on Friday night.
There does feel like an additional pressure on Graham Potter considering the manner of the defeat at Sunderland.
Losing to a newly promoted club will have hurt, but the 3-0 defeat is a real concern for West Ham United and the squad looks like it is lacking pace and real quality.
This pressure will intensify if West Ham United are beaten again- they follow up with fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur either side of the September international break and Graham Potter has not adhered himself to the fans, which could mean a very negative atmosphere in which West Ham United have to find a way to perform.
West Ham United's board may also be getting edgy and so there is a real urgency for the home team to put a much better performance on the board.
The same could be said for Chelsea who were pretty poor for much of the game against Crystal Palace, but who had the chances to win that game. Enzo Maresca has delivered trophies in the last few months and that will give him time, but the fans will want to see much more from the team if Chelsea are going to match the kind of expectations that have been set out for them.
They have to be encouraged by what they saw from West Ham United last weekend and Chelsea did win comfortably here eleven months ago.
Visits to East London have not always been that productive for Chelsea in recent years and they have lost half of the last 8 games hosted by West Ham United. However, The Blues are a team that can create chances and the burden is on the home players to get forward, which is something that Chelsea may end up exploiting.
It could become very tough for West Ham United if they were to fall behind in this fixture and Chelsea may have the firepower in the final third to secure back to back away wins against this rival for the first time since March 2015.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
West Ham United 0-2 Chelsea
