Chelsea vs West Ham United

Friday 26th December 2014

12:30

Stamford Bridge

Chelsea vs West Ham United

Analysis

Chelsea on Boxing Day. This is the sort of game that epitomises English football.

The Boxing Day fixture. London derby. Galacticos vs Underdogs. Split family loyalties. Huge bragging rights. And this year, it's a top four clash.

Uncles, Aunts and Cousins of mine are firm Chelsea fans, and the annual pilgrimage to see the family over the holidays will centre around this. And that's what football is all about for me.

Key Player

Where do you start? Man to man, Chelsea are the best side in the country, and probably up in the top 5 in the world at the moment. Every single spot in their starting XI is a player who is capable of winning you a game on his day.

But there are a few that shine even brighter than the rest. Nemanja Matic has been a phenomenon since returning to West London in January, Diego Costa has shown his lethal touch on 12 occasions this season already, and John Terry's performances are arguably the best of his career.

I've been having a debate in my head about who to focus on out of Chelsea's two best players, but the fact that Eden Hazard may miss the game after limping off against Stoke City last night has forced my hand.

Cesc Fabregas has been an utter revelation since joining the Blues. He's got 12 Premier League assists in his first 16 games, and has a further 3 in the Champions League. In his total 22 league and European performances, he's created 72 chances.

The man is a genius, and he showed it again on Monday night.

Against Stoke, Fabregas ran the show, creating the first and scoring the second. The images below illustrate his game perfectly. The heat map on the left shows that the Spaniard moves all over the middle third of the pitch, popping up in pockets of space all over the park, without getting into the box too often.

And you can see from the chances he created (right) that he doesn't need to get too far forward to cause damage. He is a master of the defence splitting through ball from deep, and allowing him any space in the midfield is suicidal.

Whoever it is who marks Fabregas on Friday, they will need to be right on top of their game.

http://epl.squawka.com/stoke-city-vs-chelsea/

How do you stop Chelsea?

The real answer to that question is that you don't.

Chelsea have lost one game all season, and have drawn three league games. But none of those have been at Stamford Bridge. This season, they have won every home league game they have played. Last season, they won 15 out of 19, drawing three (obviously, one was against us) and losing to Sunderland in April.

The only time they have failed to win at home this season was their Champions League opener against Schalke.

The Germans did what most visitors do at the Bridge, worked incredibly hard, hoped for a bit of luck, and took their chance when it came. The image below shows their tackles on the day. Schalke attempted 42 tackles, which is big anyway, but massive for a European game.

On top of this, they also made 24 interceptions, 38 clearances and blocked 5 shots.

http://www.squawka.com/teams/fc-schalke-04/

As I said, they also took their opportunity. Chelsea dominated much of the game, and were pressing for a second goal when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar nicked the ball in the middle of his own half, and he and Julian Draxler sprung a lightning quick counter attack to snatch a point. The image below shows how quickly they broke and scored.

If West Ham can frustrate the Blues enough to draw them out of position on Boxing Day, quick counter attacking led by the likes of Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia and the two fullbacks could be the order of the day.

Weakness

Chelsea don't really have any weaknesses, particularly at home. However, if you were going to pick anything as their main flaw, it would probably be England centre back Gary Cahill.

Whilst Cahill is one half of probably the best centre back pairing in the division, he is capable of costly lapses in concentration. So far this season, Cahill has made four defensive errors in his 17 appearances, twice as many as the next highest by a Chelsea player. 

This is a recent introduction to Cahill's game, as he made no defensive errors in 30 appearances last season, and just two in 26 the year before. The main change in circumstance since then has been the departure of David Luiz, and the subsequent loss of any real threat to his position.

Perhaps the England centre half is getting complacent, perhaps he's just had a couple of dodgy moments. Whatever it is, he is the most likely of the Chelsea side to give anything away, and West Ham must look to exploit him as often as possible.

http://www.squawka.com/players/gary-cahill/

Conclusion

The say a lot can change very quickly in football, and it certainly has since we last played Chelsea. It must've been a good couple of centuries since our last visit to the Bridge, and both sides are much better outfits than our last trip west.

It's unlikely that we will head home with anything to show on Friday evening, but if we can keep Fabregas quiet, hope that Hazard doesn't make it, and pounce on the potential gaps in their defence, who knows?

 Head to Head 

39% Head to Head Win % 39%

53 Won 53

29 Drawn 29

53 Lost 53

229 Goals Scored 242

242 Goals Conceded 229

 Recent Form (excl. Friendlies) 

W L W W W W Last 6 L W W W D W

14 Goals Scored 10

4 Goals Conceded 5

  

W W W W W W Home/Away Form L W D L W D

18 Goals Scored 10

2 Goals Conceded 9

  

 Form Player (excl. GK) 

 (Last 6 League) 

Cesc Fabregas - Andy Carroll

5 Appearances 6

436 Minutes Played 515

  

40.9 Sum WhoScored Performance Score 46.4

8.2 Average WhoScored Performance Rating 7.7

  

484 Passes Attempted 201

414 Completed 123

86% Success Rate 61%

  

21 Chances Created 6

3 Assists 1

  

5 Attempts on Goal 18

4 On Target 6

1 Goals 3

3 Take Ons Attempted 4

1 Successful Take Ons 1

33% Success Rate 25%

  

33 Tackles Made 4

20 Successful Tackles 1

61% Success Rate 25%

  

1 Interceptions 5

5 Clearances 14

0 Blocks 0

1 Defensive Actions Per Game 3

  

8 Aerial Duels 109

4 Won 73

50% Success Rate 67%

0 Defensive Errors 0

0 Leading to a Goal 0

  

 Last Meeting 

29 January 2014

  

4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1

Petr Cech - Adrián

Branislav Ivanovic - Guy Demel

Gary Cahill - James Collins

John Terry - James Tomkins

(63') Cesar Azpilicueta - Joey O'Brien (90')

(63') Jon Obi Mikel - Mark Noble

Ramires - Matthew Taylor

Willian - Stewart Downing

(80') Oscar - Kevin Nolan (80')

Eden Hazard - Mohamed Diamé (30')

Samuel Eto'o - Andy Carroll (64')

 Subs 

Mark Schwarzer - Jussi Jääskeläinen

David Luiz - George McCartney

Ashley Cole - Ravel Morrison

(63') Frank Lampard - Antonio Nocerino (80')

(63') Nemanja Matic - Matt Jarvis (30')

Andre Schurrle - Carlton Cole (64')

(80') Demba Ba - Marco Borriello

 Absentees 

 Injured/Doubtful 

Chelsea: Eden Hazard

West Ham United: Mark Noble

 Suspensions 

Chelsea: 

West Ham United: 

  Opposition Last Time Out (League)

vs Stoke City

 Goals Scored: 2

 Goals Conceded: 0

 Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1

  Thibaut Courtois

  Branislav Ivanovic  Gary Cahill  John Terry  Cesar Azpilicueta

  Jon Obi Mikel  Nemanja Matic

  Willian (80')  Cesc Fabregas  Eden Hazard (92')

  Diego Costa (85')

 subs:

Petr Cech

  Kurt Zouma (92')

  Nathan Ake

  Filipe Luis

  Oscar

  Andre Schurrle (80')

  Didier Drogba (85')

  

 Best Player: Cesc Fabregas(SR: 8.9)

 Worst Player: Diego Costa(SR: 6.4)

  

 Top 5's (Min 5 Apps) 

 Goals Scored 

Diego Costa 12 - 7 Diafra Sakho

Eden Hazard 6 - 4 Stewart Downing

Didier Drogba 3 - 3 Andy Carroll

Oscar 3 - 3 Enner Valencia

Loic Remy 2 - 2 Mauro Zárate

 Assists 

Cesc Fabregas 12 - 6 Stewart Downing

Oscar 5 - 2 Enner Valencia

Eden Hazard 3 - 2 Diafra Sakho

Ramires 3 - 2 Carl Jenkinson

Nemanja Matic 2 - 2 Cheikhou Kouyaté

 Passing Accuracy 

John Terry 91% - 86% Mark Noble

Jon Obi Mikel 91% - 85% Stewart Downing

Eden Hazard 89% - 84% Mauro Zárate

Cesc Fabregas 88% - 82% Winston Reid

Nemanja Matic 88% - 80% Morgan Amalfitano

 Chances Created per 90 

Cesc Fabregas 2.61 - 2.88 Stewart Downing

Eden Hazard 2.42 - 1.31 Mauro Zárate

Didier Drogba 2.35 - 1.26 Mark Noble

Diego Costa 1.84 - 1.1 Alex Song

Oscar 1.61 - 1.05 Diafra Sakho

 Successful Dribbles per 90 

Eden Hazard 4.72 - 2.4 Mauro Zárate

Willian 2.11 - 1.8 Enner Valencia

Loic Remy 1.59 - 1.7 Alex Song

Nemanja Matic 1.56 - 1.26 Diafra Sakho

Ramires 1.5 - 0.87 Morgan Amalfitano

 Tackles Won per 90 

Filipe Luis 3.47 - 2.62 Mark Noble

Andre Shurrle 3.05 - 2.6 Alex Song

Cesar Azpilicueta 2.88 - 2.44 Cheikhou Kouyaté

Nemanja Matic 2.58 - 1.52 James Tomkins

Branislav Ivanovic 2.29 - 1.46 Carl Jenkinson

 Aerial Duels Won per 90 

Didier Drogba 3.52 - 12.83 Andy Carroll

Branislav Ivanovic 3.06 - 4.8 James Collins

Gary Cahill 2.61 - 4.64 James Tomkins

John Terry 2.47 - 3.45 Diafra Sakho

Andre Schurrle 2.35 - 3.17 Carlton Cole

 Manager 

Jose Mourinho - Sam Allardyce

26/01/1963 DOB 19/10/1954

51 Age 60

  

 Playing Career 

Sesimbra Main Club Bolton Wanderers

35 Appearances 231

1 Goals 24

  

4 Total Clubs 9

94 Appearances 512

13 Goals 43

  

Portugal National Team England

0 Caps 0

  

 Managerial Career 

Benfica First Managerial Role Preston North End

20/09/2000 Start Date 30/09/1992

14y 3m 5d Experience 22y 2m 25d

  

6 Sides Managed 7

7 League Titles 2

13 Cup Wins 0

  

67.4% Win % 40%

480 Won 358

140 Drawn 235

92 Lost 302

  

 Longest Role (excl. Current) 

Chelsea Club Bolton Wanderers

02/06/2004 Appointed 19/10/1999

20/09/2007 Left 29/04/2007

3y 3m 17d Time in Charge 7y 6m 9d

2 League Titles 0

4 Cup Wins 0

  

67.0% Win % 41.2%

124 Won 153

40 Drawn 104

21 Lost 114

  

 Current Job 

03/06/2013 Appointed 01/06/2011

1y 6m 23d Time in Charge 3y 6m 25d

  

0 League Titles 0

0 Cup Wins 0

  

66.2% Win % 41.2%

55 Won 64

15 Drawn 36

13 Lost 55

Sunderland vs West Ham United

Saturday 13th December 2014

15:00

Stadium of Light

Sunderland vs West Ham United

Analysis

Before this season began, there were many people who felt that West Ham and Sunderland would be scrapping in the same section of the league throughout this season. In fact, in the 'West Ham til I Die' user prediction game, the average prediction for West Ham was 10th, and 12th for Sunderland.

It's fair to say, the season hasn't quite gone like that so far.

West Ham sit in one of the power seats of the division, among the esteemed company of Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs. Meanwhile, Sunderland have won just twice this season and are currently in 14th place.

But despite only having a pair of wins so far, the Black Cats can be a tough nut to crack, and this weekend will be a real test of the newly found quality and resilience of the Hammers.

Key Player

There may be a few raised eyebrows at my selection of Sunderland's key player.

The likes of John O'Shea, Anthony Reveillere and Sebastien Larsson have all been in good form this recently, but the man I am picking out is forward-cum-winger Connor Wickham.

The former Ipswich Town prodigy hasn't really had the career Sunderland had hoped for when they forked out £8m to sign the then 18 year old back in 2011. However, he ended last season in blistering form, and has been an ever present in Gus Poyet's side this term.

His form has been patchy, but when he is on song he is the sort of player that is capable of winning any game. If we take a look at Sunderland's victories this season, you can see the sort of impact that England U21 international can have on his side.

In the 3-1 over Stoke back at the beginning of October, Wickham bagged himself a goal, and assist, two interceptions, three clearances, put in three tackles and generally ran himself into the ground.

The images below show his heat map and take ons from the game. On the day, he was successful 4 out of the 5 times he took on his man, and, significantly, three of those were in or around the penalty area. This displays Wickham's direct approach, picking up the ball and driving at the opposition.

And his heat map from the game shows that he is difficult to pick up too. Despite lining up as a left winger in most games this season, the youngster has a tendency to pop up all over the park, working back to help his fullbacks, picking up the ball in the central channel, or coming in off the right.

http://epl.squawka.com/sunderland-vs-stoke-city/

In the other win, November's 3-1 win at Crystal Palace, Wickham didn't produce such an impact. However, his performance shows that he has a pretty well rounded game.

He had 10 aerial duels in that game (winning 50%), attempted 10 tackles (winning 50%), and made 5 clearances.

His heat map below displays his work rate for the team, as they withstood heavy pressure from the Eagles. You can see that he spent a significant amount of time defending in the left fullback area.

http://epl.squawka.com/crystal-palace-vs-sunderland/

He may not be a world beater, and he may not even be Sunderland's best player, but Connor Wickham is the sort that can produce a performance out of the blue, and cause some serious damage to an opposition.

How do you stop Sunderland?

Despite their poor start to the season, the Black Cats have only actually lost two home games this season - against Arsenal and Manchester City. The problem they have had is that they've drawn 5 of their opening 8 home games, winning just once.

One of the key reasons that they have struggled to convert draws to wins is the approach they tend to take. Gus Poyet's side are one of those that are happy to allow the opposition to have the ball and attack, and then try to hit them on the break. This is an approach that they tend to adopt both home and away.

The chart below shows the possession held by Sunderland in their 8 home league games this season, compared with West Ham's possession in our 7 away games this season.

You can see that the Hammers have generally held more possession away from home than the Black Cats have managed at the Stadium of Light this term. From this, it seems a fair bet that the Irons are likely to have the lions share of possession.

Probably Sunderland's best home results this season have come in the win against Stoke, and draw with Chelsea. In both of those games, the opposition has had the a massive bulk of possession, but Sunderland have been able to soak pressure and hit on the counter.

The images below show Sunderland's take ons from both of those games, you can see that the approach is clearly to get out of defence quickly and get forward.

http://epl.squawka.com/sunderland-vs-stoke-city/

http://epl.squawka.com/sunderland-vs-chelsea/

Considering a pointed out being caught on the break as a weakness for West Ham after the Swansea game last week, this is something we will need to be mindful of as we surge forward in search of goals.

Weakness

One of Sunderland's clear weaknesses is that they are weak defensively. They have been more resolute in recent weeks, but there is still a fragile streak at the back.

Three of the last five games Sunderland have played at home have been against Everton, Arsenal and Manchester City. The images below show the chances created by those sides.

You can see that all three took very different approaches to the game. Everton (left) favoured attacking down the flanks, putting in 17 crosses, and creating 8 of their 14 chances from the wide areas. All of the chances arsenal (centre) created were within the width of the penalty box, while Manchester City (right) mixed it up.

http://epl.squawka.com/sunderland-vs-everton/

http://epl.squawka.com/sunderland-vs-arsenal/

http://epl.squawka.com/sunderland-vs-manchester-city/

During those games Everton only scored from a penalty and Arsenal's goals came from defensive lapses, whilst City created a lot of chances, and scored four from open play.

Against Sunderland, the style of the approach play is not as pronounced as it is against other sides. For example, you wouldn't tend to go long against Stoke as they will beat most players in the air, but against Arsenal you're likely to have a lot of joy in the air.

If West Ham are to pick up another victory on the road, we must be willing to adapt, and mix our styles. We shouldn't simply look to put the ball on Carroll's head, or look to Downing to pick passes, or Sakho to run behind. We must do all of these things and more.

Conclusion

On paper, we are a side that should be beating Sunderland. We have an almost entirely fit squad to choose from, our form is good, and there's isn't great.

Despite this, I have a sneaking feeling that we won't get the win we are after. For me, any away point is a good point, and that's what I think we'll get: a good point.

 Head to Head 

36% Head to Head Win % 38%

31 Won 33

22 Drawn 22

33 Lost 31

124 Goals Scored 133

133 Goals Conceded 124

 Recent Form (excl. Friendlies) 

W D D D L D Last 6 D D L W W W

5 Goals Scored 9

6 Goals Conceded 6

  

D W L D D L Home/Away Form D L W D L W

5 Goals Scored 11

8 Goals Conceded 10

  

 Form Player (excl. GK) 

 (Last 6 League) 

Sebastien Larsson - James Tomkins

6 Appearances 5

505 Minutes Played 426

  

45 Sum WhoScored Performance Score 39.6

7.5 Average WhoScored Performance Rating 7.9

  

220 Passes Attempted 150

183 Completed 107

83% Success Rate 71%

  

11 Chances Created 1

0 Assists 0

  

3 Attempts on Goal 1

3 On Target 1

1 Goals 1

5 Take Ons Attempted 1

4 Successful Take Ons 1

80% Success Rate 100%

  

30 Tackles Made 16

13 Successful Tackles 12

43% Success Rate 75%

  

10 Interceptions 12

8 Clearances 50

2 Blocks 7

3 Defensive Actions Per Game 14

  

7 Aerial Duels 29

2 Won 23

29% Success Rate 79%

0 Defensive Errors 0

0 Leading to a Goal 0

  

 Last Meeting 

31 March 2014

0-1 Andy Carroll 9'

0-2 Mohamed Diamé 50'

1-2 Adam Johnson 65'

  

3-5-2 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1

Vito Mannone - Adrián

Wes Brown - Guy Demel

(60') John O'Shea - James Tomkins

Santiago Vergini - Winston Reid

Phil Bardsley - George McCartney (46')

Liam Bridcutt - Mark Noble

(79') Ki Sung-Yeung - Matthew Taylor

(53') Lee Cattermole - Stewart Downing

Marcos Alonso - Kevin Nolan (84')

Fabio Borini - Mohamed Diamé (79')

Connor Wickham - Andy Carroll

 Subs 

Oscar Ustari - Jussi Jääskeläinen

Carlos Cuellar - Roger Johnson (79')

Craig Gardner - Pablo Armero (46')

(60') Jack Colback - Antonio Nocerino (84')

(53') Adam Johnson - Matt Jarvis

(79') Ignacio Scocco - Joe Cole

Jozy Altidore - Carlton Cole

 Absentees 

 Injured/Doubtful 

Sunderland: Billy Jones, Patrick van Aanholt, Emanuele Giaccherini

West Ham United: Carl Jenkinson, Mark Noble

 Suspensions 

Sunderland: 

West Ham United: 

  Opposition Last Time Out (League)

vs Liverpool

 Goals Scored: 0

 Goals Conceded: 0

 Starting Formation: 4-1-4-1

  Costel Pantilimon

  Santiago Vergini  John O'Shea  Wes Brown  Anthony Reveillere

  Liam Bricutt

  Adam Johnson (78')  Sebastien Larsson (69')  Jordi Gomez  Connor Wickham

  Jozy Altidore (6.9)

 subs:

Vito Mannone

  Thomas Robson

  Jack Rodwell

  Lee Cattermole (69')

  Will Buckley (78')

  Ricardo Alvarez (6.9)

  Steven Fletcher

  

 Best Player: John O'Shea (SR: 8.3)

 Worst Player: Jozy Altidore (SR: 6.2)

  

 Top 5's (Min 5 Apps) 

 Goals Scored 

Steven Fletcher 4 - 7 Diafra Sakho

Sebastien Larsson 2 - 3 Enner Valencia

Connor Wickham 2 - 2 Andy Carroll

Jordi Gomez 1 - 2 Mauro Zárate

Jack Rodwell 1 - 2 Carlton Cole

 Assists 

Patrick van Aanholt 2 - 6 Stewart Downing

Sebastien Larsson 2 - 2 Enner Valencia

Liam Bridcutt 1 - 2 Carl Jenkinson

Jordi Gomez 1 - 2 Cheikhou Kouyaté

Will Buckley 1 - 2 James Tomkins

 Passing Accuracy 

Patrick van Aanholt 87% - 86% Mark Noble

John O'Shea 86% - 85% Stewart Downing

Sebastien Larsson 84% - 84% Mauro Zárate

Liam Bridcutt 84% - 82% Winston Reid

Wes Brown 84% - 82% Kevn Nolan

 Chances Created per 90 

Sebastien Larsson 2.08 - 2.79 Stewart Downing

Adam Johnson 1.29 - 1.33 Andy Carroll

Jordi Gomez 1.27 - 1.31 Mauro Zárate

Jozy Altidore 1.19 - 1.26 Mark Noble

Patrick van Aanholt 0.85 - 1.25 Alex Song

 Successful Dribbles per 90 

Adam Johnson 2.15 - 2.4 Mauro Zárate

Santiago Vergini 1.65 - 1.73 Enner Valencia

Jozy Altidore 1.59 - 1.3 Diafra Sakho

Connor Wickham 1.58 - 1.25 Alex Song

Will Buckley 1.52 - 0.88 Morgan Amalfitano

 Tackles Won per 90 

Patrick van Aanholt 2.34 - 2.75 Alex Song

Jack Rodwell 2.29 - 2.62 Mark Noble

Sebastien Larsson 2.19 - 2.53 Cheikhou Kouyaté

Liam Bridcutt 2.08 - 1.66 Carl Jenkinson

Lee Cattermole 2.04 - 1.58 James Tomkins

 Aerial Duels Won per 90 

Jozy Altidore 5.58 - 14.07 Andy Carroll

Steven Fletcher 3.45 - 4.82 James Collins

Connor Wickham 2.95 - 4.1 James Tomkins

Wes Brown 2.09 - 3.51 Diafra Sakho

Liam Bridcutt 1.88 - 3.17 Carlton Cole

 Manager 

Gus Poyet - Sam Allardyce

15/11/1967 DOB 19/10/1954

47 Age 60

  

 Playing Career 

Real Zaragoza Main Club Bolton Wanderers

239 Appearances 231

63 Goals 24

  

5 Total Clubs 9

463 Appearances 512

125 Goals 43

  

Uruguay National Team England

26 Caps 0

  

 Managerial Career 

Brighton & Hove Albion First Managerial Role Preston North End

10/11/2009 Start Date 30/09/1992

5y 1m 2d Experience 22y 2m 12d

  

2 Sides Managed 7

1 League Titles 2

0 Cup Wins 0

  

41.8% Win % 39.9%

105 Won 357

75 Drawn 235

71 Lost 302

  

 Longest Role (excl. Current) 

Brighton & Hove Albion Club Bolton Wanderers

10/11/2009 Appointed 19/10/1999

23/06/2013 Left 29/04/2007

3y 7m 12d Time in Charge 7y 6m 9d

1 League Titles 0

0 Cup Wins 0

  

44.3% Win % 41.2%

86 Won 153

59 Drawn 104

49 Lost 114

  

 Current Club 

08/10/2013 Appointed 01/06/2011

1y 2m 4d Time in Charge 3y 6m 12d

  

0 League Titles 0

0 Cup Wins 0

  

33.3% Win % 40.9%

19 Won 63

16 Drawn 36

22 Lost 55