Two teams seeking their first win of the season on matchday two go head-to-head at the London Stadium in this weekend’s Premier League opener on Friday night, when West Ham United host Chelsea.
It was a disappointing opening weekend for both, as West Ham were humbled at Sunderland and Chelsea flattered to deceive at home to Crystal Palace.
West Ham’s Premier League opener could hardly have gone any worse last weekend, as Graham Potter’s men began with a 3-0 thrashing at the Stadium of Light away to Sunderland.
Potter is already under intense pressure after doing little to instil enthusiasm into the fanbase after arriving for the second half of last season, but after being given a full preseason, progress is expected.
Chelsea are not the ideal opponents, considering they have won each of the last three head-to-heads, and Potter has never beaten his former club in seven previous meetings as a manager.
There was a lot of hype surrounding Chelsea during preseason, given their Conference League and Cup World Cup successes, as well as clinching a top-four finish on the final day of last season, but expectations may have been lowered already after a very subpar performance on Sunday.
With three more London derbies to come in their next three, anything but nine points against West Ham, Fulham and Brentford will raise questions about whether Chelsea have any chance of being in the title race at all, with many already ruling them out of contention.
While no team suffered a worse result than West Ham across the opening weekend, it is important not to judge too early, and they will be keen to make amends in front of their own fans under the lights.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Friday
Saturday
Manchester City 12:30 Tottenham
Crystal Palace 14:00 Nottingham Forest
Fulham 16:30 Manchester United
Friday
Saturday
Mallorca 16:00 Celta Vigo
Atlético de Madrid 18:30 Elche
Levante 20:30 Barcelona
Sunday
Osasuna 16:00 Valencia
Real Sociedad 18:30 Espanyol
Villarreal 18:30 Girona
Real Oviedo 20:30 Real Madrid
