Premier League Preview: West Ham United vs. Chelsea

If the formbook is anything to go by, West Ham United will be quaking in their boots at the prospect of entertaining Chelsea.

The defending champions are flying with 14 league goals without reply this season, while the Hammers on the other hand have scored two and conceded nine in their three league games.

While Chelsea are flying at the top of the league, West Ham are floundering at the bottom. The two teams are exact opposites. The first three games of the season have been agony for West Ham, and they will not be feeling too confident that their season can get underway against the Double winners.

Chelsea has been scoring goals for fun this season, but Julien Faubert is confident he can smother the Blues' joint top scorer, Florent Malouda.

"I know Malouda is on fire," Faubert told WHUTV. "He was a big player before and is a big player now, but I think we have to play as a team.

"If we play as a team and we are really compact, we won't let him play and will restrict his chances I think. I am not scared of anybody so I don't care who I am up against."

For Chelsea fans they will be hoping for more of the same. 19 places above West Ham going into this match and they will be looking to make it four wins out of four this term. Despite this, Carlo Ancelotti thinks his team can improve.

He said to reporters after the Stoke game: “We didn't play our best football but we were focused and concentrated - it's important to win.

"It's impossible to win 6-0 every week, today we played very well defensively."

The Blues were expected to be a weakened team this season following the summer departures of Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Deco and Juliano Belletti. However, that has been the case so far and Ancelotti's men are vying to continue their best start ever to a Premier League campaign.

TEAM NEWS

West Ham United

West Ham will have been boosted by the fact that midfield general Scott Parker signed a new four-year contract this week, after speculation Tottenham wanted to sign him during the transfer window. Thomas Hitzlsperger is out and Jack Collison and Zavon Hines have long term injuries.

New Hammers signing Lars Jacobsen may well start at right-back in a defensive set-up, with normal right full-back Julien Faubert moving to right wing. Young Mexican winger Pablo Barrera could play on the left wing with Kieron Dyer, Mark Noble and Parker in central midfield with Carlton Cole up front as a lone striker.

Possible starting XI: Green; Jacobsen, Gabbidon, Upson, Ilunga; Faubert, Parker, Noble, Barrera; Dyer, Cole.

Chelsea

For Chelsea it will be more of the same, although there are concerns over the fitness of England duo Frank Lampard and John Terry. Both missed the matches against Bulgaria Switzerland, although Carlo Ancelotti is confident Terry will start. Lampard faces a late fitness test, but Ancelotti is hopeful he will be able to play.

Brazilian Ramires gives the defending champions more options in midfield, while Branislav Ivanovic is still sidelined with a back injury.

Possible starting XI: Cech; Ferreira, Terry, Alex, Cole; Essien, Mikel, Lampard; Anelka, Drogba, Malouda.

Florent Malouda Is Keeping His Feet On The Ground Despite Perfect Start

Florent Malouda has warned his Chelsea team-mates not to get too carried away by their good start to the season or they could pay a price at West Ham tomorrow.

Chelsea are top of the League after winning their first three games, which has included two impressive 6-0 wins against West Brom and Wigan.

The defending champions have not been beaten by West Ham since 2003 but Malouda is worried that could change if they take victory for granted.

He said: “There's something to improve even when you're winning 6-0. It's all about the details. It's important to be calm and patient when we win but also to be calm and patient when we have bad results. That's the way the manager sees it.

“When you're angry and you don't have good feelings, it's not the right way to have a good vision. When you stay calm, you're able to analyze and you keep improving, whether you're winning or having bad results.

“That's why I was saying we have to be calm and patient even when we win because in these games people are watching our games and seeing what we do.”

Malouda, who has scored four goals already this season, added: “It was only a few months ago that we were celebrating winning the Premier League and the fans arrived at the start of the season with so much joy and happiness. We want to keep that feeling.”

Carlo Ancelotti Believes English Players Have Greater Mental Strength Than Italians

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti believes that players in the Premier League want to work harder than those in his home country of Italy.

Ancelotti is always looking for ways to improve as a manager and he feels that English players have a similar mentality, with hard work being a feature of Chelsea's training ground.

"In football there are a lot of things, a lot of details that you can always improve," Ancelotti told his club's official website.

"Every experience can give you the possibility to improve. I had good experience before I came here and now I think I improved with this experience.

"There are not a lot of differences between Italy and England, but I think the English players have a stronger mentality, they like to work very hard on the pitch every day."

Ancelotti recently spent time at the Uefa Elite Club Coaches Forum in Switzerland, where he discussed the game with such luminaries as Jose Mourinho, Claudio Ranieri, Didier Deschamps, Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola, amongst others.

"We talk about everything, the rules, the balls, they asked us what made the difference during the World Cup and Champions League," he added.

"It is a good moment to have a relationship with the other coaches, it is a good moment during the season because there are the most important coaches in Europe and it is important to know about everything. After that we stay together and speak in the bar like supporters, it is fun."

Ancelotti also believes that an important part of management is ensuring that the personal relationships at work are positive.

"I like to have a good relationship with all the people that work around me," he explained.

"I think I have the respect of the media, I think, I know very well that sometimes the relationship depends on results.

"For example, Fabio Capello now has a problem but I think you have to pay attention to the criticism. Sometimes there is a right criticism but when you attack the person I do not like this. He is still a very good coach."

Chelsea Preparing £16.5m Winter Bid For Sevilla Winger Jesus Navas

Premier League champions Chelsea are prepared to make a £16.5 million (€20m) bid to land Sevilla winger Jesus Navas when the transfer window reopens in January, according to AS.

Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly keen to secure the services of the talented 24-year-old but the bid is sure to come up short of the Andalusian's valuation of the highly-rated World Cup winner.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are already said to be on alert as contract negotiations between Navas and Sevilla evolve.

Los Nervionenses are understood to be keen to tie him down to a longer-term deal and the hometown boy is unlikely to want to leave Seville.

His current contract at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan is set to expire in 2012.

Ancelotti - No Bid For Drogba

Carlo Ancelotti has refuted claims from Marseille that they failed in a bid to re-sign Didier Drogba this summer.

Club president Jean-Claude Dassier announced on Thursday that the French champions had attempted to bring the Ivorian striker back to Stade Velodrome before the transfer window slammed shut.

He claimed their advances were knocked back by Chelsea, who acquired Drogba for £24million from Marseille in 2004.

Since then he has gone on to become one of the most fearsome frontmen in world football, collecting an enviable collection of honours along the way.

Drogba is, however, now 32 years old and there had been talk over the summer that Chelsea may choose to cash in on him.

Those reports were quickly played down by the Blues, who insist the African ace remains an integral part of their plans.

That means they are unwilling to entertain any offers for a player who has scored over 135 goals during his six years at Stamford Bridge.

Ancelotti has been left bemused by Marseille's suggestion that they recently lodged a bid for Drogba and is adamant that his talismanic hit-man is going nowhere.

"This is not true," said Ancelotti.

"They did not make an offer. They didn't ask the club if they could buy Drogba. If they come to us in January, they already know the answer."

Ancelotti Wants Terry And Lampard To Keep England Places

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti wants John Terry and Frank Lampard to play for England for as long as possible and sees no benefit to his team if their international careers end.

Ancelotti, who had a 10-year-long international playing career with Italy, said he was surprised that a debate had even started about their futures with England.

But it did begin after both missed England's opening Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland, which ended in convincing 4-0 and 3-1 wins for their "other" Italian manager, Fabio Capello, England's coach.

Unlike other coaches like Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson who make no secret they prefer it when their key players are not involved in international action, Ancelotti said he had no problems as far as his players are concerned.

"It would not be a benefit to Chelsea," he told a news briefing at the club's training complex in the leafy Surrey countryside.

"Terry and Lampard still have the desire to play for England and I think next time they will be ready to play for the national team.

"It is no problem with them getting injured, they are part of the England team."

Terry, who has won 65 caps and scored six goals since making his international debut in the centre of defence in 2003, missed the two internationals because of a hamstring injury.

Lampard, who has won 83 caps and scored 20 goals from midfield, needed a hernia operation recently which kept him sidelined.

However, their replacements did well, with first Michael Dawson and then Phil Jagielka helping to hold the back line.

Newcomer Adam Johnson's inclusion in midfield and a deeper lying role from Wayne Rooney suggested that the long-running debate about Lampard and Steven Gerrard playing together for England could finally be put to bed.

Gerrard seemed to thrive without Lampard, playing more like he does for Liverpool with greater freedom.

The debate about Terry's inclusion is less clearcut as he is still regarded as the natural partner for Rio Ferdinand at the heart of England's defence.

Ferdinand has been out injured since June but is likely to return to the international side when he makes his comeback for Manchester United within the next few weeks.

Alex: Premier League Pride

There is more than one Chelsea player who can currently claim to be in the form of his life - be it Didier Drogba whose who has either scored or assisted 27 goals in his last 19 Premier League appearances, or Florent Malouda who has scored with each of his four shots attempted this season - but one man on top of his game it is easy to overlook is Alex, whose excellence at the back has helped restrict our opposition to just seven shots on target in three games this season (consider we have scored 14 goals in that time).

For much of his Chelsea career the Brazilian has played back-up to the John Terry - Ricardo Carvalho partnership, but with injury problems limiting the Portuguese's game time prior to this summer's Real Madrid transfer, Alex has stepped in and made the position his own.

'I feel very good in this moment, it is not just me, all the defence, all the team is important,' he commented, in typically modest fashion. 'John Mikel Obi is very good, every game he is doing a fantastic job and is helping me and John Terry, and Paulo and Ashley.'

Cole, Terry and Ferreira have also contributed further forward with assists in the opening three games. The captain's tendency to move forward on the ball leaves his partner as the last line of defence.

'It is strange!' laughs the man who grew up admiring the attacking talents of Romario and Bebeto. 'Sometimes I need to tell Obi to stay back, if there is time to speak on the pitch, sometimes I have to cover on the left side and Paulo or Ivanovic will have to close the space. It is good for us that JT and Ashley can work like this, it is very good for Chelsea.'

Seven league games have passed since we last conceded a goal, and the defender admits immense satisfaction at this current run, but is eager to see it continue past the weekend's fixture against West Ham.

'I think at PSV we did 10 games, during 2004/05, with Gomes from Tottenham in goal, but this is a different league and it makes me more proud in the Premier League,' he said.

On paper it should be straightforward against the league's bottom side, though trips to Upton Park are rarely easy, as Alex has learned to appreciate during his three years as a Londoner.

'In the last game against Stoke we played so so, but we won 2-0. West Ham I know they are bottom, but on the pitch it is different and we have to play well,' said the 28-year-old. 'We have to start the game strong, they have a difficult position and we have to attack, attack, attack in the first 15 minutes and try to score.

'We have the big game against Manchester City away near the end of this month, and that is a big test on the pitch for us. If we win our games until then, we will have a chance to win there and to play well, and maintain our place on top.'

Ancelotti Bags August Award

Carlo Ancelotti has won the Barclays Manager of the Month award for August after his side made a flying start in defence of the league title, scoring 14 goals without reply as they took maximum points from the three matches.

Ancelotti was the only manager to see his team win all three of their games in August and this is the second time he has won the award. In November last season, the Blues also recorded three wins and three clean sheets and were top of the Barclays Premier League.

'I enjoy getting started on the Premier League and I am happy to win the Manager of the Month,' Ancelotti said. 'It is a good moment recently and I have to say thanks to my players. We have fantastic strikers and we support them with good play from the back and we have confidence in our play.'

The decision was made by the Barclays Awards Panel that includes representatives from football's governing bodies, the media and fans.