Kovacic, Sterling, Felix: The Chelsea team news to face West Ham in the Premier League

The Chelsea team news ahead of their Premier League clash against West Ham on Saturday afternoon has been confirmed.

Chelsea head to the London Stadium to face David Moyes’ side who are currently in 16th place and just one point above the relegation zone.

Graham Potter is hoping to do the league double over their London rivals as they make the short trip across the capital hoping to extend their unbeaten run to four games after a win and back-to-back goalless draws.

It’s going to be a tough ask for Chelsea who have yet to win on the road in the league since October 2022, a record Potter is looking to stop on Saturday.

“It’s not a statistic we like, that is for sure,” said the Chelsea head coach ahead of the fixture.

“Going away from home in the Premier League is not straightforward and the problems we’ve been having in terms of injuries haven’t made it easy. But it’s something we’re trying to address. We have to start with West Ham; I’ve been there with Brighton and had a decent record.

“But it’s a different context, a London derby with no love lost between the two teams. It will be a good atmosphere to test ourselves in and to try to get the three points.”

Chelsea have been buoyed by the new January arrivals and several returning from injury in recent days and weeks, including Reece James and Ben Chilwell who featured against Fulham last Friday at Stamford Bridge.

As Chelsea look to claim all three points against West Ham, here is the latest Blues team news.

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Edouard Mendy (fractured finger), N’Golo Kante (hamstring), Christian Pulisic (knee) and Armando Broja (ACL) remain sidelined. Kante and Pulisic have begun individual work and are looking to return in the coming weeks for Chelsea.

Wesley Fofana has continued to step up his return from a knee injury, while Denis Zakaria and Mateo Kovacic made their training comebacks this week. But it appears the game will come too early for the pair, for Kovacic definitely.

Potter said pre-match: “Players are getting closer and closer. Wesley has been training with the team, Denis Zakaria has been training with the team. Mateo has trained with the team but it’s too soon for him. But we’ve got some options.”

Raheem Sterling returned against Fulham last week from injury, however he has suffered a minor setback in training and is unlikely to be involved for the capital derby.

“We’ve had a little setback with Raheem,” added Potter, “he had a little kick in training on the side of his knee, so we’re assessing him and he is doubtful for (Saturday).”

Joao Felix is available after suspension and will be pushing to start in attack alongside Mykhailo Mudryk and Kai Havertz.

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