Chelsea thump West Ham to pile more pressure on Graham Potter

Chelsea shrugged off the absence of Cole Palmer to get their season up and running in style while deepening the gloom at West Ham after only two matches after a 5-1 victory at London Stadium.

Goals from Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Trevor Chalobah – after Lucas Paqueta had given the hosts a shock lead – secured a thumping win for the Blues and lifted them to the top of the table for the first time since December 2021.

It may only be for a few hours – and obviously the 18 other teams have only played one match – but it still felt significant, being the first time Chelsea have been top of the pile since Todd Boehly took over and embarked on his £1billion-plus spending spree.

Chelsea put on a show against West Ham! ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/0U7iyQdDwu

— Premier League (@premierleague) August 22, 2025

Meanwhile, as the new world club champions shook off the dust following their opening-day goalless draw with Crystal Palace, West Ham slipped to the bottom of the table after a woeful display, the sort that gets managers sacked.

Graham Potter, whose side lost 3-0 at Sunderland last weekend, now has a worse record from his 20 matches in charge than Julen Lopetegui, the man he replaced in January.

Yet Potter may have felt his luck was about to change against his old club when Palmer was injured in the warm-up, with 18-year-old Brazilian Estevao Willian replacing him.

Then, from nowhere, Paqueta gave West Ham a sixth-minute lead, launching a spectacular swerving, dipping shot over Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

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