The West Ham vs Chelsea clash on Saturday should be an absolute cracker, with both teams desperate for all three points.
Chelsea travel to the London Stadium to take on West Ham this weekend, and nothing less than a win will do for either side.
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David Moyes has a big selection headache ahead of the game, with Kurt Zouma, Maxwel Cornet and Thilo Kehrer definitely out and Gianluca Scamacca a big doubt.
One option for the Scot will be to revert to a flat back four, with Nayef Aguerd and Angelo Ogbonna flanked by Emerson and Vladimir Coufal.
That could mean he could put one more central midfielder in the side, and Flynn Downes is the perfect candidate for the clash with the Blues in my opinion…
David Moyes must make big decision for West Ham vs Chelsea
In my opinion, Flynn Downes is the ideal player to come into the side on Saturday. The 24-year-old has already proven just how effective he can be against the big teams with impressive performances against Manchester United and Liverpool.
Downes started those two games, and he’s only started one more Premier League match all season long – at home to Bournemouth.
Signed for around £14 million (Wales Online) in the summer transfer window, the tenacious central midfielder hasn’t been given ample opportunities to impress by Moyes so far this season.
The West Ham vs Chelsea clash should be the perfect game for him to come in and prove his worth.
Graham Potter’s side focus on quick passing and retaining possession in the middle of the park. Chelsea are incredibly strong in central midfield, with the likes of Mateo Kovacic and Enzo Fernandez.
It will be absolutely vital for West Ham to break up Chelsea’s play through the middle of the park, and in order to do that I believe that Downes should be deployed alongside Declan Rice at the base of our midfield, with Lucas Paqueta just in front of them.
Downes seems to have absolutely everything needed to be a truly top-class operator at Premier League level, yet Moyes has given him just 853 minutes of action this season, with only 283 of those coming in the Premier League (Transfermarkt).
In my opinion, Downes makes us so much of a better team when he plays. The ex-Swansea ace is an archetypal defensive midfielder. He is absolutely brilliant at breaking up play and quickly moving the ball on – something that enables us to get up the pitch so much faster in transition.
He is tenacious, aggressive and has a really impressive engine on him. The midfielder is perfectly built for the modern game, but he’s far from a physical one-trick pony.
Downes is a very good passer of the football and possesses impressive technical ability.
Starting him for West Ham vs Chelsea should be an absolute no-brainer for the Scot in my opinion.
Moyes could set up his team in a 4-3-3 formation when in possession and a 4-5-1 out of it.
The Hammers need to be brave in possession and have to try and impose themselves onto Chelsea. However, stopping them from playing through the middle of the pitch will be a key element of the battle as well.
And Flynn Downes is the ideal man to help us do exactly that in my opinion.
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