London derbies are always special occasions for football fans as well as players, with the atmosphere generally taken up a notch and no quarter asked or given on the pitch.
Given the sheer amount of teams in the Premier League from the capital; Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Tottenham and West Ham, not a week seems to go by nowadays without a derby taking place.
This Saturday sees Mauricio Pochettino’s new-look Chelsea side making their way across town to the London Stadium and a fixture against West Ham United.
The match could see David Moyes hand home debuts to both Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse, in a match that isn’t too significant at this stage but will still be fiercely competitive.
The Hammers could also be boosted by the news that six Chelsea players have been ruled out of the fixture.
According to football.london, Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile, Armando Broja, Wesley Fofana, Christopher Nkunku and Marcus Bettinelli will play no part in the match.
Both teams drew their opening Premier League fixture of the 2023/24 season, though the Blues were unlucky not to get more out of their fixture with Liverpool.
West Ham started well but faded significantly at Bournemouth, and Moyes will surely be hoping that the same fate doesn’t befall his side this weekend.