West Ham United are set to take on Chelsea at the London Stadium tomorrow.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has told the club’s official website that he intends to name a strong line-up against Chelsea in the EFL Cup tomorrow.
West Ham have won their last two matches, to relieve some of the pressure which Bilic was under.
However, the Croatian boss does not intend to rest on his laurels, and he has promised to name a number of first-team regulars tomorrow evening.
“We are now in the last-16 and if we go through, it’s already the quarter-finals,” he said. “You have some fixtures that some of the big teams will go out in. Man United are playing Man City, Spurs are playing Liverpool, so if you go through and have a good draw, you could have a game which you can go through, if you play good.
“Then you are there. It’s not ideal to play midweek, and Everton might be more fresh on Sunday, but at this stage of the season, it’s not a problem to play Saturday-Wednesday-Sunday.
“That’s why we are going to put a very strong team out tomorrow.”
Bilic could name a similar line-up to the one which saw West Ham beat Sunderland 1-0 in their most recent outing.
Chelsea are expected to make some changes to their squad to face West Ham, but without any European commitments this season, Antonio Conte’s side’s schedule is not as gruelling as it has been in previous years, meaning the Italian boss is also likely to put out a strong team.
West Ham only just made it to this stage of the competition, as they were given a huge scare by Accrington Stanley in the last round.
The League Two side competed well at the London Stadium, but a last minute strike from Dimitri Payet sealed the Hammers’ progress.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
