West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen has encouraged his teammates to give the Hammers fans more joy after a disappointing start to their 2025-26 Premier League campaign.
Bowen played the duration of their opening day defeat against newly promoted Sunderland, with the side of Graham Potter last Saturday with 3-0 in the stadium of Licht.
West Ham gave all three goals in the second half, with Eliezer Mayenda, than Ballard and Wilson Isidor all on goal to give the Black Cats a dream start to their campaign.
The result saw more pressure pole on Potter to deliver results after he led them to a 14th placed finish in 2024-25 after taking over Julen Lopetegui in January.
And Bowen has insisted that his side should come together to do more and to repay the loyalty of their fans, starting with a London Derby at home in Chelsea this Friday.
“I am clearly smoking,” Bowen said to Sunderland after the defeat. “I thought the goals were fairly simple. We are all disappointed in the way we admitted the goals.
“I am disappointed and smoking with the start we have had. The fans will be the most disappointed of everyone.
“They come here, they expect more. We have to give them all more.”
First Derby -Day of the season pic.twitter.com/GMG7REXNKX
– West Ham United (@westham) August 20, 2025
Chelsea also made a stuttering start of their Premier League campaign and played a scoreless draw with Community Shield Victors Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.
It has been a busy summer for the blues, which not only lifted the renewed World Cup of the club, but also reinforced their team for the coming campaign.
One of those additions attracted attention, with Estevao made his competitive debut for the club after completing his move from Palmeiras was completed this summer.
The talented teenager played 37 minutes against the Eagles and completed more dribbles (six) than any other player on the field.
And Estevao enjoys his chance to play in the English top flight, but does not want to hurry the adjustment process and say, “I feel so good.”
“It is an incredible experience to play here in the Premier League and I am just so grateful that I got the chance here.
“I have adjusted myself much faster than I thought. I want to thank the manager, the coaching staff and all my new teammates.
“They have helped me all so much and gave me everything to me since I arrived to make me feel at ease and to give me confidence. Everyone helped me to adapt to the game, but also to the new conditions here.
“I enjoy every minute and I don't try to let things happen faster. I just try to take it every day and enjoy it as much as possible.”
Players to watch
West Ham – Jarrod Bowen
Bowen, the top scorer of the Hammers last season with 13 goals, scored three times in his previous four Premier League London Derbies, who seized his last two against Arsenal and Tottenham.
Only four West Ham players have scored in three derby performances in a row in the competition, most recently Mikhail Antonio in 2019.
Chelsea – Cole Palmer
Despite a quiet match against Palace, Palmer is still the biggest threat of Chelsea in the future.
He scored 15 goals and offered eight assists in the competition last season, while he also registered five direct target contributions (three goals, two assists) at the World Cup club, and he would like to leave the line in London Stadium in 2025-26.
Match forecast – Chelsea Win
West Ham are not strangers for losing their opening of two games of a competition campaign, in which only Southampton (nine) more often loses their first two games in a Premier League campaign than the Hammers (eight).
However, West Ham has won four of their last eight Home Premier League matches against Chelsea (pulled two, lost two), but lost 3-0 in London Stadium last season, the last successive home campaigns for the Blues in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 campaigns.
The hammers have only won two of their nine Home Premier League matches under Potter (D3 L4) and pack nine points. No West Ham manager has ever won fewer than 10 points in their first 10 home games in the competition, with 10 points the lowest currently by both Alan Curbishley and Avram Grant.
In the meantime, Chelsea has won five of their last seven Premier League meetings with West Ham (one draw, one loss) and has 32 victories in the competition against the hammers in general, and beat spurs more often (37).
The blues have also held three consecutive clean sheets in the competition for the first time since February 2023. The last time they went four consecutive games without giving up was in March 2021.
But they hope to find their shooting shoots here. Chelsea indeed had 19 shots without scoring against Crystal Palace. The blues did not score in their opening of two league matches of a campaign since 1995-96, when they opened with two scoreless treks.
Opta wins probability
West Ham – 22.4%
Drawing – 23.2%
Chelsea – 54.5%