An injury to a mystery “key” West Ham star could hand Nuno Espirito Santo a major headache for the crucial Chelsea clash, throwing his plans into doubt.

There is already no love lost between London rivals West Ham and Chelsea – on and off the pitch.

But there is more than usual riding on the Premier League meeting between the Hammers and Blues at Stamford Bridge.

New Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior admits he’ll have to tone down his love for West Ham after landing the job amid much debate over his credentials.

It has been a case of so far, so good for the son of former Hammers favourite Leroy Rosenior, though, with five wins from his first six games, including a 2-1 victory at Napoli in midweek.

Injury ‘key’ West Ham star could rock Nuno for Chelsea

West Ham go into the game in good form themselves after beating Spurs and Sunderland to breathe new life into their bid to stave off relegation.

The game is huge for both clubs with Nuno Espirito Santo’s Hammers desperate to close the gap on the teams above them while Chelsea can go back into the top four with a win.

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Cole Palmer is a doubt for the game against West Ham.

But the Hammers have their own problems it seems.

Because an injury to a mystery ‘key’ West Ham star could give Nuno a major headache for Chelsea.

With limited time to adapt and the pressure on in the battle to survive, the potential absence could throw things up in the air for the Hammers boss.

In his pre-match press conference Nuno was asked whether he has a fully fit squad.

But the West Ham boss seemed reluctant to commit to confirming as much, saying he does not want to give up too much information to the opposition.

Adama Traore will join fellow new signings Taty Castellanos and Pablo in the West Ham squad for the trip to Chelsea.

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West Ham’s other new signing, little known winger Keiber Lamadrid, had only just started pre-season in Venezuela when he joined and is not expected to feature for a while yet.

All eyes will be on whether Axel Disasi is involved in Rosenior’s squad as talks continue between West Ham and Chelsea about a loan for the centre-back.

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Not to knock him as a player, but he’s hardly played in months!

They say never change a winning team and Nuno has named the same starting XI for the wins over Sunderland and Spurs.

That may not be possible against Chelsea, though, according to Hammers insider ExWHUemployee.

Speaking on his West Ham Way Patreon, ExWHUemployee said that while Nuno is expected to name a similar team to the one which started against Sunderland, there is a ‘concern over a key player and they will face a late fitness test to determine whether they can be involved’.

West Ham don’t have too many players who would be considered ‘key’ – hence the club’s position in the table.

Jarrod Bowen, Crysencio Summerville, Mateus Fernandes, Jean-Clair Todibo and Alphonse Areola are probably the only players who fit that description.

Insider says key Hammers star faces late fitness test for Chelsea

All of those players were pictured in training on Thursday ahead of the match.

So it may be one of them has picked up a knock in training since.

As a result, it is difficult to predict the exact line-up but the below forecasts who will start in place of those key stars should they be missing.

Nuno may also be less bold in fielding two forwards for the trip to Chelsea too, especially if he is without a key midfielder like Fernandes.

Predicted West Ham starting XI to face Chelsea:

Areola (Hermansen), Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Todibo (Kilman), Scarles, Soucek, Fernandes (Magassa), Summerville (Traore), Bowen (Traore), Pablo, Castellanos.