West Ham United play host to Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday at the London Stadium.
The West Ham vs Chelsea Premier League clash this weekend is a hugely important one for both sides.
The Hammers have taken four points from our opening four games, whilst Chelsea have a total of seven points.
Julen Lopetegui and Enzo Maresca are both in desperate need of a result and a big performance from their players at the London Stadium.
West Ham have already been handed a very big boost ahead of the game, with the news that the injury suffered by Emerson Palmieri last weekend isn’t serious.
And in further good news for the Hammers, Chelsea have received somewhat of a blow ahead of the huge encounter this weekend.
Chelsea fans angry ahead of West Ham Premier League clash
Saturday’s game is a vitally important one for us. We need to see a big performance from the players, and more cohesion in the way they play together.
Chelsea haven’t been great this season in all fairness either, and Maresca is under big pressure to get things right very quickly.
With that in mind, the Blues will not be happy one little bit with the Premier League’s latest announcement ahead of the game at the London Stadium.
Stuart Attwell has been named as the lead VAR official for the West Ham vs Chelsea clash, as confirmed via the Premier League’s official website.
The west London outfit have plenty of history with the 41-year-old referee.
Chelsea have won just five out of the 22 games that Attwell has refereed.
Now, whilst he won’t actually be the man in the middle on Saturday, in his role as lead VAR official, he will have a huge say in the eventual outcome at the London Stadium.
Chelsea dealt Stuart Attwell blow for West Ham clash
He endured an absolute nightmare when he took charge of Tottenham vs Chelsea back in February 2023.
Midway through the game, Stuart Attwell booked Kai Havertz and Emerson Royal and then, after a delay, showed Hakim Ziyech a red card, but immediately went to the VAR screen and decided to rescind it, instead showing him a yellow.
It was a bizarre sequence of events. Attwell completely lost control of the contest, so the Chelsea players will undoubtedly be dreading having the 41-year-old in charge of Saturday’s game at the London Stadium.
In addition to that, back in 2021, Attwell handed out a ridiculous red card to Chelsea’s Cezar Azpilicueta during their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.
The decision was so bad that it was eventually overturned following an appeal.
West Ham have had our fair share of questionable referee and VAR appointments over the past couple of years, so it’s nice to see the boot on the other foot this time, with Chelsea’s history with Stuart Attwell.
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