Chelsea vs West Ham United. Premier League.
Stamford BridgeAttendance41,521.
Monday 15 August 2016 23:11, UK
Antonio Conte will take charge of his first Premier League match when Chelsea host West Ham on Monday Night Football.
The Blues, who are looking to bounce back after only finishing 10th last season, have signed midfielder N'Golo Kante from Leicester and forward Michy Batshuayi from Marseille.
Both could be in line for their debuts against the Hammers, who drew at Stamford Bridge in the 2015/16 campaign.
West Ham have already played competitive matches in the Europa League and a number of new signings could make their first league appearances.
Andre Ayew, Arthur Masuaku and Sofiane Feghouli are among those looking for a place in the starting XI.
Team news
There are no new injury concerns for Chelsea, with Kurt Zouma still sidelined as he continues to recover from a knee injury suffered earlier in the year.
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has a number of decisions to make regarding his team.
He has already confirmed Dimitri Payet will not be fit to play the whole game after returning back to pre-season following his Euro 2016 exploits with France, while new signings Ayew and Masuaku also need to prove their fitness if they are to make their debuts.
Aaron Cresswell and Manuel Lanzini (both knee) are definitely out but former Chelsea youngster Gokhan Tore (knee) is back in training.
Opta stats
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League meetings with West Ham United at Stamford Bridge (W7 D3) and have not lost at home to them in the league since September 2002 (2-3).
West Ham were unbeaten against Chelsea in the Premier League last season (W1 D1); the first time that they have achieved this since 2002-03.
Chelsea are unbeaten in each of their last 13 season opening fixtures played at Stamford Bridge (W10 D3).
Antonio Conte has lost just one of his last 30 league games as a club manager (W27 D2 L1).
Diego Costa has scored five goals in seven Premier League appearances for Chelsea in the month of August.
Dimitri Payet had a hand in 11 goals in his last 12 Premier League appearances of 2015-16 (three goals, eight assists).
Merson's prediction
It's a difficult start for both teams but I'm going for Chelsea to win the league so I'm going for a Chelsea win here too. People say they weren't great defensively last season but Conte is a great tactician and they will improve.
If N'Golo Kante gets around Dimitri Payet, I don't see Payet touching the ball too often. He's a top player and you don't want to be giving away free-kicks around the box, but he's not really going to run away from defenders.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (Sky Bet odds 6/1)
Betting
Chelsea are just 8/15 with Sky Bet to make a winning start under Conte, who is 5/1 to lead the Blues to Premier League glory in his first season in charge. The Hammers are up against odds of 11/2 to cause an upset, with their expectations far more modest for the season at 80/1 for the title and 8/1 just to secure a top-four finish.
Costa heads the first goalscorer betting and is enhanced from 7/2 to 4/1 to do so in Sky Bet's Price Boosts, while Andy Carroll is considered the visitors' main threat at 8/1 to net first.
Don't miss Chelsea v West Ham live on Sky Sports 1, Monday from 7pm. Or watch for £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV.
