1′ Pereira clips a free-kick into the box from the right flank in the early stages, but it bounces straight out for a goal-kick.
1′ We’re underway at The Hawthorns.
Chelsea have won each of their last three away league games at West Brom; they have beaten them in four or more consecutive such outings twice previously – eight in a row from April 1985 to April 2011 and five between December 1964 and March 1969.
Lampard named a strong team during the week and has kept faith with the players that performed well against Barnsley. Caballero gets the nod to start ahead of Kepa between the posts. Christensen returns from suspension to partner Silva in the backline, who makes his Premier League debut. Alonso starts at left-back as Ben Chilwell does not feature in the squad. Mount, Kante and Kovacic form the midfield three with Jorginho on the bench. Abraham leads the line after starting the two previous league matches on the bench supported by Werner and Havertz.
Bilic rung the changes for his side during the week against Brentford, but has reverted back to the same team outside of the suspended Kieran Gibbs that lost to Everton. The only switch from that fixture sees Gibbs replaced at left wing-back by Townsend, while there’s no place in the squad for Branislav Ivanovic to face his former club.
CHELSEA SUBS: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Jorginho, Ross Barkley, Fikayo Tomori, Olivier Giroud, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Cesar Azpilicueta.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Willy Caballero; Reece James, Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Marcos Alonso; N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount; Kai Havertz, Tammy Abraham, Timo Werner.
WEST BROM SUBS: Hal Robson-Kanu, Matt Phillips, Rekeem Harper, Kyle Edwards, Cedric Kipre, David Button, Sam Field.
WEST BROM (3-4-3): Sam Johnston; Semi Ajayi, Kyle Bartley, Dara O’Shea; Daniel Furlong, Jake Livermore, Romaine Sawyers, Conor Townsend; Matheus Pereira, Callum Robinson, Grady Diangana.
Chelsea crushed Barnsley during the week as Kai Havertz notched a hat-trick to send the Blues through to the third round of the EFL Cup. Frank Lampard would have been delighted with his side’s response to their defeat against Liverpool last time out in the Premier League. The Blues were impressive to see off Brighton and Hove Albion in their opener and will be eyeing another three points on the road today.
West Brom have endured a difficult start to their Premier League campaign, losing their opening two matches. Leicester City inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Slaven Bilic’s men before Everton ran out 5-2 winners at Goodison Park last time out in the top flight. The Baggies did beat Harrogate in the second round of the EFL Cup, but were knocked out of the competition by Brentford on penalties during the week. Bilic needs a performance from his team this afternoon to stop the negative momentum.
Good afternoon and welcome to the live commentary of the Premier League clash between West Brom and Chelsea at The Hawthorns.
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