Will Early Kick Off Against Chelsea Help Or Hinder Hammers?

Much has been made of Chelsea's disrupted travel plans following their victory in Greece in the europa League cup, they were scheduled to fly out on Thursday night but were unable to leave due to bad weather until Friday lunchtime, however main men Eden Hazard and David Luiz had stayed back in England in order to be 'rested' ahead of the forthcoming live on Sky match against West Ham at The London Stadium on Sunday.

The fact that the game will be played barely 60 hours after their europa cup match would seem to put Chelsea at a disadvantage and their manager has mae much mention of it in his pre-match comments, however Chelsea are top of the pile with five wins out of five and have a squad that is well capable of 'filling in' for tired players as and when required.

The 'early doors' 1:30 PM kick off, while giving the visitors very little recovery time from their European endeavours, is not an ideal one for the home side as historically Hammers best performances against London rivals have been under the lights when for fleeting moments the 'Ironic' London Stadium has resembled the much beloved but now consigned to the memories Boleyn Ground.

Will the game being televised as well as the match being an early kick off effect the atmosphere? Probably Yes, a good many people, mindful of the possibility of seeing their team get 'tonked' allied to the horrendous weather conditions forecast for the afternoon, may well elect to view the proceedings in the warmth and comfoert of their homes and pretend to charge themselves ridiculous amounts of money for a packet of crisps or a pint!

Unfortunately given how dire most fans experiences have been of the london Stadium, whether they have been the poor performances on show or how sterile the venue itself is, it is going to take a while before the atmosphere can become intimidating for the opposition on a regular basis. Success breeds success and their is nothing that engenders that feeling more than winning, victory against bogey team Everton last weekend was a start, but it was only just the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. - Ed