Chelsea and West Ham United square off on Sunday afternoon with both teams close together in the Premier League table, but why should you expect a high-scoring game at Stamford Bridge?
Chelsea and West Ham United will be looking to strengthen their bid to qualify for Europe when they square off at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.
The two London outfits sit in eighth and ninth position in the Premier League standings respectively after a season of inconsistency.
Although Chelsea have spent much of the campaign behind West Ham in the table, Thursday’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur moved them two points clear of the Hammers.
While each team can benefit from Manchester United and Newcastle United – the teams in sixth and seventh – still having to play each other before the end of the season, a defeat for either side on Sunday could prove pivotal in the race for the top seven.
Between them, the teams have only recorded one win in their last three top-flight fixtures, highlighting that neither club enter this contest in particularly convincing form.
Nevertheless, the statistics suggest that the most likely outcome is a high-scoring Chelsea victory, one which they would gratefully accept despite their desire to record back-to-back clean sheets in the Premier League for the first time in 14 months.
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Why supporters should expect goals
There is nothing particularly special about their respective attacking records. Chelsea and West Ham possess the seventh and eighth best returns in the final third.
However, West Ham possess the fourth-worst defensive record in the division, conceding 65 times in 35 games, while Chelsea have the eighth-worst with 59 goals being shipped in 34 outings.
That is a club record for Chelsea and they would become just the second team in Premier League history to score and concede at least 60 goals if they do not keep a clean sheet this weekend.
Chelsea also head into this encounter having scored at least two goals in their last six league fixtures at Stamford Bridge. The only time that they have failed to achieve that feat in 11 such games was a 1-0 triumph over Fulham.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have kept two successive shutouts in league matches at Stamford Bridge, but they have only kept three clean sheets in their last 17 top-flight encounters, at home to Fulham, Everton and Spurs.
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West Ham eager to end poor defensive record
Meanwhile, West Ham have failed to keep a clean sheet in a Premier League fixture for 15 matches, a run which has lasted since January 2 when they drew 0-0 with Brighton & Hove Albion.
West Ham have also kept just one clean sheet in their last 21 matches in all competitions, that coming in a 5-0 victory over Freiburg in the Europe League.
Five of West Ham’s last 10 fixtures in the Premier League have seen both teams score at least two goals, the latest occurrence coming last weekend when they earned a 2-2 draw against Liverpool.
In the last 20 matches between the sides in all competitions, there has only been one goalless fixture, while only one clean sheet has been kept by either side in the most recent five outings.
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