FootyChatter.com

By DAN DAVIS, SPORTS REPORTER and KIERAN GILL, MAIL SPORT REPORTER and JAMES SHARPE Updated: 06: 00 AEST, 23 August 2025 89 View comments Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score, team news and updates as West Ham welcome Chelsea to the London stadium in Premier League action, with Kieran Gill and James Sharpe reporting from the ground. By Dan Davis Loud boos greet the whistle. Wow. What a first half that was. We had four goals - including Lucas Paqueta's screamer - and another was ruled out. Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez were all on target for the visitors, leaving West Ham with a mountain to climb. Graham Potter's side were poor and made more sloppy errors at the back. I've no doubt he'll be raging in that dressing room. By Dan Davis Ouch. James Ward-Prowse was second to meet a loose ball in midfield and brought his boot down on Moises Caicedo's foot. You could hear the midfielder scream in pain on the floor. Caicedo is OK to continue. By Dan Davis The ball was smacked long for Niclas Fullkrug but there was little he could do with that while surrounded by three defenders. In the end he went down holding his threat after tangling with Tosin, but he's OK to play on after a little stoppage. It's a bit hit and hope for West Ham at the moment. By Dan Davis We're into six additional minutes. By Dan Davis Jarrod Bowen finally picked up the ball inside the box and looked to stand up Marc Cucurella, but the defender blocked the shot. By Dan Davis Chelsea are in complete control of this one and they're popping the ball around beautifully. This must be infuriating for the home crowd. No Cole Palmer. Absolutely no problem. By Dan Davis Imagine scoring two screamers in the same game. Aaron Wan-Bissaka charged away down the right before sending a cross into the box, which was half-cleared to Lucas Paqueta. The playmaker watched the ball drop behind him before spinning and trying an overhead kick, which Robert Sanchez plucked out of the air. By Dan Davis After that goal, Sky Sports showed some shots of West Ham supporters streaming into the concourse already. I wonder if they're grabbing an early pint or just heading home. By Dan Davis This is getting very ugly for the hosts - but Estevao, take a bow, son. The teenage wonderkid, brought in for the injured Cole Palmer, danced his way into the box and pulled the ball back from the byline. Enzo Fernandez arrived to slide home without a defender in sight. By Dan Davis You can feel and hear the frustration building in the crowd now. All of a sudden, Chelsea have time and space on the ball and they're looking sharp. Supporters are urging the hosts to step up and press. The 'oles' have already started in the away end. By Dan Davis A little hint for teams looking to score against West Ham: just get the ball in the box. They look all at sea after every delivery into the area. Joao Pedro pulled the trigger from distance but blazed over the top. By Dan Davis CHELSEA ARE AHEAD! Crazy game, this. Lucas Paqueta, whose wondergoal earlier now feels like a year ago, was caught in possession by Trevoh Chalobah. Joao Pedro then fired in a low cross to the far post, where Pedro Neto caught Aaron Wan-Bissaka napping and touched home. VAR took a look at the tackle on Paqueta but deemed it was OK. By Dan Davis Continuing in the same vein, West Ham won a corner on the left. The ball was whipped in and dropped to Niclas Fullkrug, but he couldn't direct a header on goal. He was also adjudged to have fouled Tosin. By Dan Davis Blimey. This has been a breathless start. West Ham released Jean-Clair Todibo down the right and his low cross was perfect, finding Niclas Fullkrug who swept into the net. But VAR was quickly wheeled out to check for a tight offside - and sure enough, Todibo had mistimed his run by a fraction of a second. This derby is being played at a barnstorming pace. By Dan Davis West Ham shipped two headers against Sunderland last weekend, remember, and they have conceded another one tonight. Graham Potter did mention in his pre-match press conference that his side had to do the basics better. On that occasion, they didn't. By Dan Davis SO SOFT - BUT CHELSEA WON'T MIND! The visitors responded very well to falling behind and after mounting pressure, they won a corner over on the far side. The set piece was then whipped into the penalty area and flicked on by Marc Cucurella, and Joao Pedro was there to nod home. By Dan Davis Oooooo. Big penalty appeals went up from Chelsea. The ball was played into Joao Pedro, who went down after tangling with Nayef Aguerd. Nothing was given. By Dan Davis Ouch. That looked like it hurt. Niclas Fullkrug took a whack to the head but is back on his feet after receiving treatment. I think he's OK to continue. By Dan Davis I still haven't fixed my jaw after that. It was an absolute thunderbolt. Chelsea stood off Lucas Paqueta, affording him room to blast one into the top corner from around 30 yards. Ridiculous finish. BUT. .. and I'm going to play devil's advocate here, I think Robert Sanchez had to do better with that. Poor goalkeeping for me. By Dan Davis WOWWWWWWWWWWW! That came from absolutely nowhere. Sublime. Sumptuous. Lucas Paqueta picked up the ball inside Chelsea's half before turning and running at the box, and no one closed him down. The playmaker then unleashed an absolute rocket. Chelsea are stunned. By Dan Davis It's not been a particularly flowing start to this game. Enzo Maresca told Sky Sports before he took his seat that Cole Palmer 'felt something' during the warm-up. No specifics on the issue. By Dan Davis PEEEEEP! This London derby is up and running under the lights. How will Chelsea fare after that last-gasp Cole Palmer blow? Let's find out. By Dan Davis Cole Palmer, dressed in a thick, black coat, watched on from the bench as the players walked out of the tunnel at London Stadium. It's a pretty raucous atmosphere. By Dan Davis Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp: By Dan Davis Big news from the Chelsea camp. Cole Palmer has been ruled out of tonight's match after suffering an injury during the warm-up. Estevao starts instead. By Dan Davis Well, well, well. Cole Palmer was seen stepping out of the warm-ups earlier than his team-mates before heading back inside. Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp: By Dan Davis Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, speaking to Sky Sports: By Dan Davis I have to admit I was very, very impressed with Chelsea at the Club World Cup. Some of their attacking play was absolutely stunning. Their attackers didn't quite click against Palace, even after the introduction of livewire Estevao, so I'm expecting better tonight. We'll hear from Enzo Maresca on his decision to start both Liam Delap and Joao Pedro shortly - so don't go anywhere. By Dan Davis JAMES SHARPE: Graham Potter was on the offensive as soon as he stepped through the door. 'Must have been a bad result at the weekend, ' he remarked as he turned to face a rare packed media room at Rush Green. He could say that again. A 3-0 defeat to Sunderland to start the season on which Potter was always to be judged, the one after the summer where he hoped to get all the players he needed to overhaul the ageing, underperforming squad he inherited and stamp his style and authority upon it. Then they went to the Stadium of Light and got trounced by a newly-promoted team with only two new signings in his starting line-up. To read the full piece via Mail+, click the link below: By Dan Davis West Ham boss Graham Potter, speaking to Sky Sports: By Dan Davis Courtesy of Coca-Cola, we've got some eyebrow-raising predictions from supporters about how the Premier League might play out. Here's what they discovered. .. Have your say in the comments below. By Dan Davis Unsurprisingly, there is no sign of Nicolas Jackson for Chelsea tonight. He informed the club he wanted to leave this summer and we understand Aston Villa have stepped up their efforts to sign the striker. Villa are cautious about overstepping profit and sustainability rules and Jackson is likely to set them back around £60million. Jackson was also missing for the draw with Palace last weekend. By Dan Davis Good timing. This is just in via my colleague SIMON JONES. .. West Ham have bid around £17 million including add-ons for Monaco midfielder Soungoutou Magassa. France U21 international Magassa was the subject of an offer from Nottingham Forest earlier in the window. The versatile 21-year-old plays predominantly as a holding midfielder but can also operate in a box-to-box role and as a centre back. Magassa started 16 games for Monaco last season and also featured in the Champions League, gaining valuable experience. By Dan Davis West Ham boss Graham Potter, speaking ahead of the game: By Dan Davis All eyes will be on Liam Delap tonight. It's worth pointing out here that Chelsea had 19 shots against Crystal Palace last weekend - but failed to score from any of them. Delap certainly should help on that front. The players have taken a stroll around the pitch and Cole Palmer was spotted looking typically relaxed ahead of kick-off. By Dan Davis Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp: By Dan Davis The headline here is that Joao Pedro and Liam Delap BOTH start this evening. I'm assuming Pedro will line up out wide, with Delap the No 9. Enzo Maresca has made three changes in total. Jamie Gittens has dropped to the bench while Tosin Adarabioyo has been recalled. Josh Acheampong is among the substitutes. Let's see how that reshuffle up top works out. By Dan Davis It's just the one change for the hosts from the side which fell to that pretty dreadful loss away at Sunderland last time out. Tomas Soucek is back in midfield, with Luis Guilherme ruled out. Other than that, I'm assuming it will be a back three - with wing backs - and a two-man frontline of Jarrod Bowen and Niclas Fullkrug. At least on paper, that's pretty deadly. By Dan Davis You can watch tonight's action from the capital live on Sky Sports. Coverage gets underway on Main Event from 7pm. You can also grab a NOWTV Day Pass to tune in without subscribing. By Dan Davis Graham Potter has a bit of a selection headache on his hands. Crysenscio Summerville and Luis Guilherme remain out while there are question marks over new goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. West Ham's new No 1 was poor on his debut last weekend. Chelsea's big absentee is Levi Colwill, who ruptured his ACL in pre-season and is set to miss most of the campaign. Nicolas Jackson is back in contention after serving a three-match ban. By Dan Davis Welcome, all. I bet Graham Potter is hoping for some magic tonight. West Ham sorely need points - and, even more crucially, a much better performance after their dismal 3-0 defeat by Sunderland last time out. To be honest, it's all feeling a bit end-of-days at London Stadium already and Potter desperately needs to lift the gloom. As for Chelsea, they were held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace in their opening fixture despite fielding their plethora of attacking riches. I'm expecting goals in this one, so don't go anywhere. Kick-off is 8pm. Chelsea won't win the league with Sanchez in goal

Share what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mail Online.

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual.   Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on Mail Online. To do this we will link your Mail Online account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy. Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd