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)
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