Strongest Possible Chelsea And West Ham United Combined Line Up For The Opening Premier League Fixture – 7 Blues, 4 Hammers

So here it is! The pre-season fixtures have finally concluded and now the Premier League teams are getting ready for the real deal. The competition will be kicking off on 13^th of August, however, for the Blues, the competition will get underway on 16^th of August, and they will be welcoming the all confident London side, West Ham United.

The last time these two sides met in the Premier League at the Stamford Bridge, the sides played a 2-2 draw, where a controversial late Cesc Fabregas penalty earned Chelsea a precious point and the Hammers, who were aiming for the top four finish were left red-faced.

Looking at the recent results, Chelsea were more of a consistent side than the Hammers as they won four out of their last six games, while the Hammer only managed to win two of their last six games. There is no doubt that Bilic has made the Hammers like never before, but we cannot deny the fact that Chelsea have Antonio Conte at their disposal, hence a jittery encounter is expected.

Chelsea had one torrid campaign last season, as almost every player lost form, but the tables might turn this time, thanks to the tactical excellence of Antonio Conte. The battle between these two London sides have always been a mesmerising one, hence, we give you a combined XI for Chelsea vs West ham’s game:

Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois-

The 24-year-old was heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid soon after the 2015-16 season was concluded, but the Blues were able to hold on to their man. This surely was a tough decision, as Adrian was actually a better than Courtois last season, but we cannot deny the fact that the Belgian is one of the greatest in the world and one bad season isn’t enough to question his abilities.

Defence: Antonio; Cahill; Reid; Azpilicueta-

With an injury setback to West Ham United’s left-back Aaron Cresswell, we have shuffled the lineup and have placed West Ham United’s midfielder turned defender Michail Antonio on the right-hand side as his strength and concentration could really help any team for the long run.

For the central area, we have omitted Chelsea’s skipper John Terry and have chosen Chelsea’s Gary Cahill and West ham United’s Winston Reid. Yes, Cahill failed to deliver the promises last season, but we cannot blame the single player when the entire squad was struggling. On the other hand, Winston Reid was a bright spot for the Hammers; hence, we believe that this pairing would be the best for the game.

On the left side, we have the one and only César Azpilicueta, who  actually was a consistent performer for the Blues in the last term.

Holding midfielders: N’Golo Kante; Mark Noble-

Chelsea’s new signing N’Golo Kante is likely to start the game for the Blues and in that case, we have opted him over West Ham United’s Cheikhou Kouyaté, who had a great season last campaign, but not as great as Kante.

With Kante doing the defensive duties, West Ham’s skipper Mark Noble, who had a great time under Bilic last season, will be given the license to do the deep lying playmaking. Well, we had Cesc Fabregas for the spot as well, but we opted to go with Noble, thanks to his form in the previous season, which saw him scoring 7 goals and 4 assists.

Attacking Trio: Willian; Payet; Hazard-

Unarguably, this is the most lethal attacking trio in the league as every player is hitting a top form recently. Chelsea’s player of the year last season, Willian, will be guiding the side from the right flank, while on the parallel road, Eden Hazard, who faced a major criticism last season, will be doing his task from the left.

And as these two will charge the opponents from the wide areas, West ham United’s star Dimitri Payet will control the tempo as an attacking midfielder. The seven times man of the match last season, Payet was an obvious choice for the spot and this will complete the trio for the game.

Striker: Diego Costa-

We had Andy Carroll for the spot as well, but we have opted to go with Chelsea’s attacking star Diego Costa. The Brazilian-born Spanish international struggled badly last season, but that doesn’t deny the fact that he still is considered as one of the beast strikers in the industry.