LIVE BLOG

FULL TIME: Chelsea lose. Disgusting.

90min: Goal. West Ham counter, Yarmolenko scores. Disgusting. 3-2, West Ham.

87min: Chelsea have a corner, but Alonso can’t direct his near post header on target.

83min: Alonso picks out Giroud from the left, but he can’t quite time his run correctly or reach behind him to wrap a foot around it. West Ham almost counter from it, but Rudiger gets a head to Yarmolenko’s return ball for the still working Michail Antonio.

82min: Willian commits a foul at halfway and gets a yellow for his sacrifice.

81min: West Ham counter and build and Chelsea lose Antonio again, but Kepa’s out quickly to block the shot. He takes out Antonio in the process but no foul, as the ball rolls out for a goal kick bouncing off the West Ham man.

80min: Willian creates a cross for Azpi, which looks good, but is headed clear just ahead of Giroud. Chelsea come again; this time Azpi keeps it low, but it’s behind Giroud.

79min: Yarmolenko with a dangerous looking cross, but West Ham commit a foul in the area and the ball goes back to Chelsea, pressing for a winner.

77min: Pulisic wins a corner, which Mount takes. Fabianski punches, Pulisic tries an audacious volley from the edge of the area, but he can’t quite wrap his foot around it in time and it’s well over. Yarmolenko on for Bowen in the meantime.

76min: RLC not wise to Willian’s latest bit of visionary passing, but it’s all Chelsea now, attack-v-defense.

73min: Pulisic drives again, cuts inside from the left and takes aim, missing the post by inches. So close again!

72min: GOALLLL!!! WILLLLIANNNN!!! Rice wipes out Pulisic 5 yards outside the penalty area, and gets a yellow. Mount, Willian, Alonso conference over it. Willian takes, AND WILLIAN SCORES!!! In off the inside of the far post. What a tremendous effort! 2-2!!!

68min: Wilshere on for Lanzini for West Ham.

67min: RLC miscontrols a ball and West Ham can counter. Mount stops that illegally, but avoids a yellow.

66min: Lanzini takes out Azpi by the touchline, level with the top of the area, and gets a yellow. Mount swings in the free kick, Giroud getsa a head to it, but it’s a looping effort and Fabianski can make the catch.

65min: Pulisic knifes through three and stands up a cross, which is just over the head of Giroud. Chelsea keep the ball alive, but can’t quite scramble in a goal.

64min: Willian chases down a ball on the right wing and puts in a cross, which is just a bit too strong for RLC to get good contact on and he can only divert across the goal.

63min: Giroud, RLC on for Abraham, Barkley.

62min: Mount and Abraham not quite on the same page at one end. At the other, Rudiger defends well 1-v-1 against Antonio.

60min: Chelsea pass it around the West Ham area, but can’t quite create any danger with West Ham defending well.

58min: Pulisic finds Alonso in space and Chelsea pour forward, but the attack slows down in the final third and West Ham counter after winning the ball. Lanzini settles for a curling effort from distance, which misses well high and wide.

56min: Mount almost finds a loose ball in the area after a decent combination between Abraham and Barkley, but Ogbonna gets a toe in and clears.

52min: Mount on for Kovacic.

51min: Goal. West Ham. West Ham on the front foot, with Declan Rice keeping things moving, finding Antonio in the middle. He can’t get past Rudiger but the ball finds Bowen, who puts a ball across the box where an unmarked Antonio slams it into the back of the net. 2-1, West Ham.

50min: Kovacic blocks a long shot from Fredericks. Antonio heaves in the long throw, Christensen heads clear.

48min: Kante wins the ball and Chelsea can counter. Willian drives the right channel and puts a nice ball across, but a deflection takes it away from Abraham. Chelsea still on the ball with Pulisic, who sits his man down, but he dangles out a leg and gets it away anyway.

46min: No changes for either side as West Ham resume proceedings and winning a long throw. Soucek wins another header, but Chelsea then able to clear.

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HALF-TIME: All Chelsea, except on set pieces. 1-1.

45+2min: Goal. West Ham. Antonio gets a talking to from the referee for some reason but he then counters and wins West Ham a corner. Chelsea make a mess of this one, too, and Soucek easily beats the much shorter Azpilicueta in the air to head in at the far post. with the ball squirming past a stranded Kepa and a flailing Tammy. 1-1.

42min: GOALLL!!!! WILLIANN!! Chelsea forcing the issue on the left with Kante, Alonso, and Kovacic who finds Pulisic. He cuts inside, falls over Diop’s dangling leg and the penalty is rightly given. Willian takes. Willian scores. 1-0, CHELSEA!

37min: VAR says NO GOAL. Antonio offside as he was lying on the ground. Lucky letoff for Chelsea and especially Azpilicueta who was all over the place in that entire sequence.

34min: After a bit of shoving in the area pre-kick, West Ham take the corner and Chelsea make a mess of the clearance. Soucek scrambles home the rebound at the far post. West Ham celebrate but VAR is called into action for a possible offside on Antonio...

32min: Alonso fouls Bowen and West Ham have a free kick deep. The cross in is off Tammy’s chest and out for a corner.

30min: Some decent interplay from Chelsea gets us to the top of the penalty area, but Barkley opts to shoot at that point and it’s blocked by a foot in sea of bodies.

29min: Lovely through ball from Kovacic finds Abraham making a run, but Fredericks recovers with a slide tackle and gets the lucky bounce off Abraham for a goal kick, even.

27min: Rice fouls Barkley and Chelsea have a free kick on the deep right flank. Willian crosses, West Ham clear. Kovacic picks up the loose ball and finds Alonso. He puts in a nice cross, which West Ham scramble away from inside the six.

25min: West Ham with a coherent attack from possession, Cresswell crosses to the far post; Alonso clears in between two players.

23min: Kovacic hits Kante with a pass and West Ham can try to counter. Christensen across to close down Antonio, who eventually runs the ball out of bounds. Drink break!

22min: Tammy tries to wriggle through and past four, but can’t quite do so. Chelsea win a throw and maintain possession.

20min: Rudiger switches to Azpi, who crosses early and low. Abraham dummies well at the top of the box for Pulisic, but his first-time curling effort just skims over the top of the bar. So close!

19min: Barkley tries his luck from 20 yards. Fabianski makes the save and holds on.

18min: Kante tries a cross; cleared. West Ham try to counter on the left, Christensen wins the footrace against Antonio.

17min: Alonso’s latest cross finds Abraham in space, but he can’t quite contort his body to make proper contact. Willian picks up the ball far side, but just hammers a cross into a body and the opportunity’s gone.

16min: West Ham counter opportunity as Azpi can’t get past his man on the right, Kovacic eventually wins the ball back from Bowen deep left. Decent recovery from the Blues.

15min: Classic Azpi cross towards Pulisic and Alonso at the far post; West Ham manage to clear.

13min: West Ham press and Chelsea give it away. Antonio gets past Rudiger but mis-hits his shot and it squirms well wide of the far post. Bit of a letoff there.

12min: Antonio long throw causes a bit of concern in the Chelsea penalty area, but Soucek fouls Rudiger and the danger’s gone.

11min: Chelsea pass it around for a while, then try the left flank with Alonso. His cross is blocked, but Willian picks up the loose ball, cuts inside a couple and goes for goal. Fabianski makes the save and holds on.

8min: Chelsea build nicely on the right, but Willian’s cross hits a heel. Chelsea back on the ball, probe the left channel with Pulisic, but West Ham crowd him out and clear.

5min: Kovacic breaks from midfield, playing to Willian, but his cutback towards Kovacic is intercepted and West Ham can counter. Chelsea recover well.

4min: Willian switches to Alonso in space, but his cross is blocked for a corner. Willian takes the corner and after a bounce or two, Alonso goes for the overhead kick. Straight at Fabianski however.

2min: Chelsea combine on the right, then spread to the left with Alonso crossing in for Tammy. He can’t quite get the ball under control and West Ham clear. Chelsea starting on the front foot.

KICK-OFF: Bubbles blowing, knees taken, new shirts out. Chelsea get us underway. Third place up for grabs with Leicester losing to Everton.

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No rest for the weary in Project Restart as Chelsea face yet another “final” in the race for the top four.

Manchester United won yesterday to keep the pressure up and close the gap, at least for now, to two points. Meanwhile, we’re only one point behind Leicester City, who are losing against Everton at the moment, 2-1.

So, another must win. And that’s before we consider the rivalry between the Hammers and Blues.

Accordingly, Frank Lampard has selected a strong lineup, and fortunately it looks like Christian Pulisic is fit to start.

Here we go!

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West Ham starting lineup (4-2-3-1)
Fabianski | Cresswell, Ogbonna, Diop, Fredericks | Souček, Rice (c) | Fornals, Lanzini, Bowen | Antonio

Substitutes from: Randolph, Johnson, Balbuena, Wilshere, Lewis, Yarmolenko, F.Anderson, Xande Silva, Ajeti

Chelsea starting lineup (4-3-3):
Arrizabalaga | Alonso, Rüdiger, Christensen, Azpilicueta (c) | Kovačić, Kanté, Barkley | Pulisic, Abraham, Willian

Substitutes from: Caballero, Zouma, James, Jorginho, Gilmour, Mount, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud

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Date / Time: Wednesday, July 1, 2020, 20.15 GMT; 3:15pm EDT; 12:45am IST (next day)
Venue: Publicly Funded Olympic Stadium, London
Referee: Martin Atkinson (on pitch); Jonathan Moss (VAR)

On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); NBCSN, Universo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports, fuboTV, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)

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Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!