31st January 2026 Daniel Luker (@danielluker_)
Nuno Espírito Santo has made one change from the team that beat Sunderland to face Chelsea in a crucial London derby.
Many fans wanted and expected the team to stay exactly the same after getting two wins in a row, however, Nuno has opted for one change.
He has chosen El Hadji Malick Diouf to start over Ollie Scarles. I think this was the only change that would have made sense and he’s gone with it.
Scarles has been in good form as of late, since making that mistake against Fulham he’s been terrific, he really hasn’t let it affect him, in fact it’s made him better.
I think the decision to drop him to the bench is harsh, but Chelsea are a lot better than both Spurs and Sunderland, so it makes sense as to why he’s gone for the ‘better’ player
The West Ham starting XI: Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Todibo, Diouf; Bowen, Fernandes, Soucek, Summerville. Pablo, Castellanos.
Obviously there isn’t much to talk about with the starting lineup. But there is something to talk about with the bench, new signing Adama Traorê makes his first matchday squad as a Hammer.
Obviously he’s fit after playing for Fulham all season so it will be interesting to see how many minutes he gets and what sort of impact he can make, because we might need him and Callum Wilson off the bench.
We have a real chance here against what is a quite a rotated Chelsea side. The midfield is strong with Enzo, Caicedo and Palmer.
But with no Reece James, Joao Pedro or Wesley Fofana in from the start they are there to be got at.