Confirmed Chelsea v West Ham lineups: Balbuena starts, Diop only on the bench

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West Ham United travel to take on Chelsea this evening…

Chelsea go with Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal, with Antonio Rudiger coming back in for Andreas Christensen in the heart of Maurizio Sarri’s defence.

He’s joined by Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Emerson in defence, with Jorginho once again in the holding role in Chelsea’s three-man midfield.

N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek keep their places alongside Jorginho, whilst Callum Hudson-Odoi and Eden Hazard start either side of the returning Gonzalo Higuain.

Olivier Giroud is therefore dropped to the bench, alongside Willy Caballero, Mateo Kovacic, Pedro, Ross Barkley, Willian and Christensen.

Meanwhile, West Ham keep Lukasz Fabianski in goal, but start Fabian Balbuena alongside Angelo Ogbonna in defence, meaning Issa Diop is dropped to the bench.

Ryan Fredericks and Aaron Cresswell line up as the full backs, with Declan Rice and Mark Noble starting in the centre of midfield.

Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini are the key playmakers going forward, supporting the front two of Javier Hernandez and out-of-form Marko Arnautovic.

Adrian, Arthur Masuaku, Lucas Perez, Pedro Obiang, Robert Snodgrass and Samir Nasri are all on the bench, alongside Diop.