David Moyes has all but surrendered to Chelsea in advance of today’s game, saying that his team have “nobody” capable of marking Eden Hazard.
The West Ham boss has been known to use one on one marking tactics before, but in this game has confessed there isn’t much he can do to stop the Belgian who is in top form for Chelsea.
The Blues arrive at the London Stadium on a high of good form inspired by the attacker, and speaking to the Telegraph before the game, Moyes has held his hands up and admitted that his squad lacks the talent to do such a job.
“Looking through the squad we have got at the moment, I couldn’t really identify anyone who could do that, but tactically it would not be a bad idea to stop him.”
Mark Noble hardly has the legs to chase the agile Ballon d’Or nominee, while players like Cheikhou Kouyate perhaps lack the positional intelligence to track his movement. It will be a long day for whoever is given the task of picking him up, and if nobody is willing or able to do so, it might turn out to be a pretty painful one for the East London team’s goal difference too.
