Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Tottenham and Manchester City fans will no doubt be watching Tonight’s Monday Night Football offering with some interest as league leaders Chelsea make the short trip across London to face their cross town rivals West Ham at The London Stadium.
When these two teams met on the opening weekend of the season it needed a late Diego Costa goal to give Antonio Conte a debut three points but when they met here in the EFL Cup earlier in the season, Slaven Bilic’s side managed to exact some revenge as they dump Chelsea out of the competition in what was a feisty derby both on and off the pitch.
You would imagine that the Police presence will be a bit more prominent this time around but that is not to say the game will be any less lively as Chelsea look to once again extend their gap at the top of the Premier League to 10 points. Should they stutter here in East London then you would say that their might just be a glimmer of a title race. But should they clear this hurdle unscathed then you do have to wonder if there is enough time for the likes of Tottenham to close the gap at the top.
West Ham go into this game in 11th but a win Tonight would see them move back into the top half of the table and up to 9th place. They have only managed back to back draws in their last two outings and have not won a Premier League game since their 3-1 win over Southampton on February 4th, like Southampton they will be aiming to earn a top half finish and after their start that would be quite the turn around.
You could say that they have not won in a month but that said they have not tasted defeat in their last three league matches and their only defeat in their last six matches was to Manchester City, albeit it was a heavy one as City ran out 4-0 winners at the start of last month.
As for opponents Chelsea, their form has not quite been as scintillating as before with two draws in their last four matches but with the barometer that they set themselves that does not necessarily mean there is cause for concern especially with such a healthy lead at the top of the table. Last weekend saw Swansea give them a test but they eventually came away with all three points to assert their league dominance.
They did perhaps ride their luck when Cesar Azpilicueta’s arm came into contact with the ball but thankfully for him and Chelsea no Penalty was given. They are the kind of decisions that go for you when you are at the top and perhaps not when you are at the bottom. But I guess that is one for the conspiracy theorists.
London derbies have a habit of throwing the formbook out of the window and although have failed to win their last two league games on the road you do have to think that they should have enough to win tonight and once again put the gap at the top of the table into double figures. I can only see a Chelsea win although obviously I would love it if West Ham could do the Premier League a favour and stop the blues running away with it. An away win for me.
