West Ham vs. Chelsea: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info for EFL Cup Match

Local rivals West Ham United and Chelsea will meet in the fourth round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday in one of the marquee matches of the week.

The Hammers have bounced back from their awful start to the 2016-17 Premier League season, winning their last two games. The Blues have also been in fine form of late, highlighted by their big 4-0 win against Manchester United on Sunday.

Here's everything you need to know about Wednesday's clash:

Date: Wednesday, October 26

Time: 7:45 p.m. BST/2:45 p.m. ET

Venue: London Stadium, Stratford, London

TV Info: beIN Sports (U.S. viewers)

Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect, fuboTV

Team News

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According to Vaishali Bhardwaj of the London Evening Standard, Aaron Cresswell will be available for the hosts, but while Andre Ayew has been training with the first team, he's expected to need a little more time to return to full health.

For Chelsea, Kurt Zouma has returned to training, but he still has a long way to go before he's ready to start. Cesc Fabregas and Branislav Ivanovic are question marks with knocks, while Oscar and Willian have returned from Brazil, per Bhardwaj.

West Ham Predicted XI: Adrian, Cheikhou Kouyate, Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna, Michail Antonio, Mark Noble, Pedro Obiang, Edimilson Fernandes, Manuel Lanzini, Dimitri Payet, Simone Zaza

Chelsea Predicted XI: Asmir Begovic, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, John Terry, Victor Moses, N'Golo Kante, Nemanja Matic, Marcos Alonso, Willian, Eden Hazard, Michy Batshuayi

Preview

Chelsea have a lot of wind in their sails coming off a big win over Manchester United and former manager Jose Mourinho, and entering Wednesday's match against West Ham, head coach Antonio Conte has some choices to make.

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The former Juventus boss gained a reputation for not rotating his squad enough in Italy and sticking with tactics and systems that worked, as opposed to adapting based on the competition his team played in.

With momentum on their side, the Blues could choose not to mess with whatever is working right now, or Chelsea could rotate and give returning players like Willian and John Terry some playing time ahead of the next Premier League match.

The Italian boss was happy after Sunday's win over the Red Devils, via the club's official Twitter account:

West Ham will provide a different challenge, however. Despite their rough start to the season, the Hammers remain a dangerous, athletic side that can do plenty of damage on the counter-attack and through set pieces.

Michail Antonio is good in the air, and the likes of Cheikhou Kouyate and Angelo Ogbonna can also be effective on corners and free-kicks. It doesn't hurt that Dimitri Payet usually delivers those balls.

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The Hammers are expected to sit back and invite Chelsea up the pitch, creating space behind the wing-backs and between midfield and defence. Simone Zaza may still be looking for his shooting boots, but he can do plenty of damage with his movement and create space for his team-mates.

On the other side of the pitch, Michy Batshuayi should finally get his chance to show he can lead to attack, with the in-form Diego Costa expected to start on the bench.