Eden Hazard: Chelsea team-mate N’Golo Kante must play alongside a twin

And Chelsea punished the home side’s failure to turn their early pressure into anything more significant, the excellent Eden Hazard rounding Darren Randolph after a swift counter to put the league leaders ahead midway through the first half.

Remember when Chelsea went winless in September, and some questioned whether Antonio Conte was the right manager?

“I think they are the best team in the league, but we started the match well”. He’s playing very well.

“I think we played a good game”. Eden Hazard did suffer a minor injury in training during the week, but should be starting at the London Stadium. Chelsea have kept only one clean sheet in their last five games in all competitions, and they stand a chance to improve their clean sheet record to two after the game at a price of (2.13).

The lead allowed Chelsea to play its favorite game, prowling in its own half and frustrating opponents until an opening to break in numbers.

Manager Slaven Bilic said: “I remember once I spoke to Payet with a couple of other players and he said that Victor was the best player at the club and he was including himself in that. I love his confidence, though”, Lampard joked.

West Ham will be without Michail Antonio as he serves a one-game ban but they could have Andy Carroll available.

The home side eventually halved the deficit in stoppage time, Manuel Lanzini arrowing a shot into the bottom-left corner following a surge to the edge of the box by substitute Andre Ayew. The game looks even. “To be fair every attack when they were 2-0 up looked very unsafe”.

They could name the same side which began the 3-1 win against Swansea, with Cesc Fabregas again likely to be preferred to Nemanja Matic.

An aside: I’m not sure what the atmosphere was like for the lucky fans who got to see this match from inside the Olympic Stadium, but from my vantage point through the t.v. cameras, everything seemed, well, dead.

Chelsea finished in tenth place in the Premier League table last term despite winning the 2015-16 Premier League title under Jose Mourinho.

“Most of all how physically in good shape they are”.

With just 11 games to go, it’s becoming increasingly hard to imagine this imperious Chelsea team letting their advantage at the summit of the table slip.

Alli, 20, has earned comparisons with Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes but he reached 20 Premier League goals in fewer games than all three, and his goal against Everton on Sunday was his 13th in the league this season.