Mark Noble: West Ham out to ruin Chelsea's opening day record after we were robbed at Stamford Bridge

Simon Johnson15 August 2016

West Ham captain Mark Noble is confident his side will become the first to beat Chelsea in their opening League game for 18 years tonight.

Chelsea haven’t lost their first match of a campaign since Coventry secured a 2-1 victory in 1998, with Darren Huckerby and Dion Dublin scoring.

West Ham were unfortunate not to secure the double over the Blues last term but Chelsea were awarded a controversial penalty in the 89th minute to earn a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge. Noble is determined to win this time and end Chelsea’s streak in the process.

He told Standard Sport: “It is a great opportunity for us to be the first to side to do that. They have to lose that record at some point, there is no reason why it couldn’t be done by us.

“It will be tough because they have a new manager in Antonio Conte and their fans will be buzzing but we will give it a real go. We were robbed of a win at Chelsea with a penalty that was outside the box last season. I don’t forget decisions like that.”

West Ham go into the game knowing they caused an upset at Arsenal in their first game last season and also won at Liverpool and Manchester City.

When asked if it means the players won’t head to Chelsea with any fear, Noble added: “Yes. The League is so unpredictable and will be again this year. The so-called lesser clubs like ourselves can’t spend what the big clubs can but we buy hungry players that really want to be at West Ham. Sometimes ability and hard work can beat ability alone and that’s what happened last season.”

New signings Andre Ayew and Arthur Masuaku are set to make their debuts but Aaron Cresswell and Manuel Lanzini are ruled out with knee injuries. Gokhan Tore could face his former club after returning to training following a knee injury of his own.

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