Matt Le Tissier says Didier Drogba and Chelsea will beat West Ham, but will lose out in the title race.
Chelsea v West Ham
12.30pm, Saturday, Sky Sports 1
Chelsea have been pretty good this season, but I still don't think they are going to have enough to beat Manchester United and Arsenal in the title race.
I didn't really expect them to collapse after Jose Mourinho left because they've got too many good players for that.
And under Avram Grant they've been as solid as ever and they've given themselves a chance of winning the Premier League after looking a little bit dodgy at the start of the season. I'm sure that's what they are aiming for.
They'll comfortably be in the top four, but I think Arsenal and Man United are playing some fabulous stuff at the moment and Chelsea no longer have that extra spark that they had under Mourinho.
They struggle in the centre-back position when John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho are injured and while they are still a very good, solid football team I haven't seen any of the "sexy football" that Avram Grant promised.
There hasn't been much of a difference in their style of play. Grant had to come in and promise attacking football because that's what Roman Abramovich wanted. But there has been no evidence of change and the real test will come in January when we see what type of players he goes out and buys.
I think Abramovich would probably rather win the Champions League than the title this season. He's won the Premier League a couple of times and the Champions League has eluded them, so if you were to ask him if he could win one title this season that's the one he'd go for.
Suspension
Michael Essien's suspension is a big miss for them this weekend. He is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, very solid, scores the occasional goal and holds the midfield together very well. When they move him to full-back, the midfield suffers and when he is out of the team it is a real blow.
But I think they might be strong enough without him against West Ham, especially because Didier Drogba looks like he's getting back to his best.
He took Mourinho's departure very hard, but these guys are professionals and have to go out and do their job. If he wants to move on to pastures new, the only way he can do it is to perform well for Chelsea and get himself a good move. It's good to see him firing again because last season he was outstanding.
It's the second London derby in a row for West Ham after a very interesting match against Spurs last weekend. Robert Green could have been sent off and later ended up saving a last-minute penalty. It's amazing how many times in football that a villain who should have been sent off goes on to have a massive impact on a game.
Strong
But saying that, I think Green is coming into some decent form. He was out for a long time with an injury last season, but now he is looking pretty strong.
I'm sure he's pushing for a place in the England squad given the problems we've got in that department. I'm not quite sure why he wasn't involved in the recent internationals. He looked very promising a couple of years ago and was getting in the squad before he got injured on England duty.
It seems to have taken him a while to recover from that and he's made a habit of saving penalties this season. I'm sure he'll be back in the squad pretty soon.
Another man who has stepped up this season is Carlton Cole and I'm pleased for him. He had a very big reputation as a young boy and never really seemed to get anywhere near the standard we thought he would. He's got a lot of great attributes as a centre-forward, but he has never really scored enough goals or got much of a run in a team until now.
But he's had a chance at West Ham this season and he needed that for his confidence and for his career. He went out on loan to Villa and Charlton and didn't really do much, but hopefully his career has had a bit of a kick-start now.
Dean Ashton's return is also a big boost for them. He's a good footballer and while he's not blessed with blistering pace, he's got a very good touch, knows where the goal is and is a good finisher. West Ham have missed him.
He's one of many injuries West Ham have had, so they've done okay to get to mid-table. Nineteen points isn't a bad start given the problems they've had early in the season.
Le Tiss predicts
HOME WIN - London teams sometimes suffer with the amount of derbies they have to play because you can't win them all, but I think Chelsea will win this one. However, it won't be comfortable for them and West Ham will give them a bit of a game. I think the odd goal will settle it and I think it will be 2-1.
Matt's Main Man
DIDIER DROGBA - He's back in form so he's got to be the key man. He scored a couple of goals in midweek and looks like he's out of his sulking mode and back into his I-want-to-play mode.
