Chelsea underlined its Premier League title credentials on Friday with a superb showing against a hapless West Ham United at the London Stadium.

Much of the talk surrounding the Blues this summer has revolved around whether they are ready to challenge Liverpool for the top spot, especially following a summer where the club was technically crowned world champions.

Despite that, the trip to West Ham had an ominous start after Cole Palmer was forced to drop out of the starting XI due to an injury sustained in the warm-up, while the Hammers netted within six minutes via a sublime strike from Lucas Paqueta.

Joao Pedro quickly restored parity when he nodded in from a well-worked set-piece routine, before Pedro Neto capitalized from some shoddy West Ham defending as he tapped in an excellent Pedro back-post cross at the back post.

Arsenal signing Eberechi Eze raises uncomfortable Liverpool conversation	Man City told uncomfortable truth about Liverpool that will make Erling Haaland wince	Man City given Liverpool truth which will make for uncomfortable reading

In between, West Ham saw a goal ruled out for offside when Jean-Clair Todibo strayed beyond the last defender before firing in a cross that was ultimately converted by Niclas Fullkrug.

That seemed to drain West Ham of belief.

Enzo Fernandez was excellent for Chelsea in the win over West Ham

The latter, who replaced Palmer in the starting line-up, set up a third Chelsea goal before the break as he broke down the line and picked out Fernandez for a simple finish

Cue boos from the dejected West Ham supporters, who last week saw their side ship lose 3-0 to newly promoted Sunderland.

If anything, Friday’s display was worse, as Chelsea grabbed two more goals in the second period to make it 5-1

Both were netted via corners with Caicedo poking in after Mads Hermansen failed to deal with a cross into the box, before Trevoh Chalobah converted after a goalmouth scramble just before the hour mark.

It could have been worse had Chelsea not taken its foot off the gas in the latter stages, while utilizing a full roster of substitutes impacted the team’s rhythm
For more news relating to West Ham, visit our sister site WHU Latest Live.