OPINION
West Ham United’s supporters will realise that they are in for a tough task when they face Chelsea on Monday night, but they may have been given a boost by Blues boss Maurizio Sarri.
The Italian cast doubt on in-form midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s involvement on Monday earlier this week, revealing a back problem that has been plaguing the England international.
“I don’t know,” he told the Evening Standard when asked if Loftus-Cheek would face the Hammers. “I have to decide who is going to play against West Ham and who is going to play Slavia. Maybe [he will start on Monday], but we need to check every day the condition of his back.”
This news comes off the back of the player scoring and assisting a goal in his team’s 3-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday night.
The 23-year-old was outstanding against the Seagulls and showed how much of a threat he can be going forward. No team, let alone the Hammers with their porous defence, would want to be coming up against him in this rich vein of form.
However, Sarri’s words will likely have West Ham fans counting their blessings. If Loftus-Cheek does end up missing Monday’s game then that would be a huge boost for the visitors at Stamford Bridge. He is exactly the kind of rangy, pacy, powerful midfielder that Manuel Pellegrini’s side routinely fail to deal with.
Declan Rice would likely have his hands full with Chelsea’s other excellent attacking threats, leaving Mark Noble or Pedro Obiang to attempt to deal with Loftus-Cheek. It’s hard to see how either of them would be able to successfully deal with the youngster.
However, if the Englishman’s back keeps him out of this contest then the Hammers will be up against the eminently less dangerous Ross Barkley or Mateo Kovacic.
The West Ham supporters will have their fingers crossed that that proves to be the case, because Loftus-Cheek in this kind of form is a scary proposition.
