5 Things We Learned From West Ham 1-5 Chelsea

5 Things We Learned From West Ham 1-5 Chelsea

West Ham’s disastrous start to the 2025/26 Premier League season continued on Friday night, as they fell to a sorry 5-1 defeat to Chelsea at the London Stadium.

As for the Blues, they have proven that they don’t need Cole Palmer to score goals and win games, as they found their devastating selves to put five past the Hammers.

Graham Potter and Jarrod Bowen need to find a response from the East London outfit quickly, as their horror showings in the opening two matches has not provided fans with any hope of improvement any time soon.

Here, we will look back at Friday evening’s fixture and discuss five key points we learned after that 5-star performance by Enzo Maresca’s side.

No Palmer, No Problem

Chelsea star man Cole Palmer was seen going back down the tunnel during the warm-up, and when it was announced that Estêvão would be replacing him, it left Blues fans to channel their worst thoughts and fears.

Cole Palmer is injured in the warm-up and is OUT of the starting lineup 😮 pic.twitter.com/5qyFF0IkeD

— Os 🧘🏾‍♂️ (@LifeOfBoch) August 22, 2025

The 18-year-old certainly didn’t shy away from his first Premier League start, however, as he earned himself an assist and the Player of the Match award. Despite conceding early to a Lucas Paquetá rocket, the Blues soon settled and went on to equalise for João Pedro’s first Premier League for Chelsea.

Niclas Füllkrug’s goal saw West Ham momentarily retake the lead, however his dancing celebrations were short-lived after Jean-Clair Todibo was caught offside in the build-up. Pedro Neto then gave Chelsea the lead minutes later, thumping a volley into a mostly open net.

Just 11 minutes later, the visitors made it three after Estêvão made a dazzling run before playing a smart cut-back to Enzo Fernández across the box. In the second half, Chelsea inflicted even more pain on Potter’s side, scoring two more in the first 15 minutes, with a Moises Caicedo poke and Trevoh Chalobah strike both from corners.

The Blues found it easy to create chances once they were settled, with the hosts really not challenging Sánchez in goal after the disallowed goal in the first half. Chelsea have now made it four points from their opening two games, while West Ham sit at the foot of the table on a miserable -7 goal difference.

We later learned from Maresca after the match that the 23-year-old had been struggling with a groin injury and hasn’t been 100% for the past week or so. With England boss Thomas Tuchel also in attendance, him and any other Chelsea stakeholder will be hoping it is nothing too serious.

Set-Piece Issues for Hammers

One thing that desperately needs addressing from a West Ham perspective is their defending from set-pieces. They conceded three of their five goals last night from corners, and it was too easy for Chelsea to find enough space to get a shot off.

Chelsea’s first goal came from a corner crossed towards the near post, with Marc Cucurella flicking the ball on to Pedro for the equaliser. The other two corners in the second half both came as a result of poor high claim attempts from Mads Hermansen on his home debut, following his £17m move from Leicester City over the summer, which left free shots for both Caicedo and Chalobah to pounce on.

It was a dismal performance for the West Ham shot stopper, who was rated just 4.7 on FotMob, and his start to life in a claret and blue shirt has been nothing short of disastrous. His distribution was also a key talking point, with the Dane completing just 64% of his passes and 29% of his long ball efforts.

On the opening day against Sunderland, West Ham also struggled to defend from high crosses, with both of the Black Cats opening two goals coming from headers. It is still early in the season, but Potter needs to address this issue quickly before their EFL Cup game in Wolverhampton on Tuesday.

Brilliant Brazilians Make Their Mark

Both Pedro and Estêvão have made their mark for the Blues, as they were majorly involved in four goals on Friday evening. The ex-Brighton forward made the headlines with his first Premier League goal for Chelsea, while providing two assists. The Brazilian teenager also starred in his first start, registering his first assist and in doing so becoming Chelsea's youngest ever assist provider in the Premier League before also taking home the Player of the Match award.

Aged 18 years, 120 days, Estevao is the youngest ever Chelsea player to assist in the Premier League. 👶🇧🇷

The future is now. 🌟 pic.twitter.com/K5J2jLOzfq

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) August 22, 2025

Following his blank last weekend against Crystal Palace, Pedro has now made it six goals and two assists in his first seven Chelsea appearances. He joined the side during the Club World Cup in July and made his debut against Estêvão’s Palmeiras before going on to score three goals against Fluminense and Paris Saint-Germain.

As for the Brazilian teenager, he wasn’t even supposed to start, and his game didn’t go well to begin with, after giving the ball away to concede West Ham’s opener. He then picked up the ball smartly off Liam Delap before driving into the box, playing it across to Fernández for a 3-1 lead.

There is still much for Estêvão to learn and improve on, especially attempting tricks in his own half, but he proved against Chelsea over the summer that he is a special talent, and he proved it again on Friday night.

Put the 007 in the bag already.

Estevao and Joao Pedro are miles clear 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nwAEk8dB57

— Dennoh (@CFC_dennoh) August 22, 2025

Potter Out of Ideas

West Ham seemed to start strongly against Chelsea, taking the lead early before initially retaking it too. However, after the visitors went 2-1 up after 23 minutes, the hosts had absolutely no response to the Blues constant pressure.

The five goals they shipped in East London now also makes it eight conceded after just two games – the most West Ham have conceded in this time in PL history. Moreover, these goals have all come in short periods. Against Sunderland, they conceded all three goals within just 30 second-half minutes, while conceding the opening three against Chelsea within 20 first-half minutes, and the last two within four minutes in the second period.

🚨🔻 West Ham have conceded 8 goals in their first two games of a top-flight campaign for the first time ever. 🤯 (Sky Sports) pic.twitter.com/Djmc76bFUt

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) August 22, 2025

This poor form hasn’t just come about either. Potter first stepped in the dugout in January, and has won just five since taking over, only registering two victories at home. Boos rung around the ground at half-time, with even more following from probably the very few thousand supporters who stayed for the duration.

After that 5-1 thumping, Potter must get a reaction out of his team on Tuesday in the EFL Cup to avoid the pressure piling up even more on the 50-year-old. In the coming weeks, they will have to face an in-form Chris Wood and a fierce Tottenham attack in the next three matches, so Potter certainly needs his defence to wake up.

The World Champs Are Back

This win for Chelsea proves the Club World Cup triumph was no fluke, as they completely outclassed their London rivals. Whilst the draw against Palace on the opening day felt like two points dropped in their title challenge, this victory will reignite the hope and belief into both the fans and players.

The youth of Maresca’s team shone, relentless in their continued assault on the West Ham goal. The team who qualified for the Champions League last season as the youngest average aged squad in PL history were unfazed by Paquetá’s early strike, to stroll to a 5-1 win.

After already having Levi Colwill out until late April, players and fans alike will pray that Palmer’s injury is nothing too serious and that he will be fit for next weekend, but for now focus must be on achieving maximum points from their next two games, as their first real test of the campaign awaits in their trip to Manchester on September 20.