To get the lowdown on Albion’s opponents and one of the ESL's founding members, Chelsea, I spoke to Sam Inkersole, who covers the Blues for football.london:

What have you made of Chelsea’s season so far?

It has certainly been a season of two halves - and two managers - for Chelsea in 2020/21 in what has been an incredibly hectic campaign with 47 games played already for the Blues.

Under Frank Lampard, Chelsea went 15 games unbeaten and were at the top of the tree after beating Leeds at Stamford Bridge in late November before it all went horribly wrong, five defeats in the next eight games saw the club-record scorer lose his job with the trigger happy Roman Abramovich deciding enough was enough.

Thomas Tuchel has arrived and has lost just twice in his 19 games in charge with Chelsea firmly back in the top four race, through to the Champions League semi finals and an FA Cup final as well. It has been a stunning turnaround.

What have you made of the job Thomas Tuchel has done since he came in?

He has been very impressive. While the football played might not be the most aesthetically pleasing on the eye, you can’t say it hasn’t been effective as Tuchel has only lost twice since replacing Lampard.

The 5-2 reverse to West Brom was a complete aberration and won’t happen again. Their other defeat came last week against Porto courtesy of a 93rd minute wondergoal.

The German is a deep thinker, a good talker, and clearly an elite coach at this level. He’s got Chelsea back to near where they should be.

Do you think they will finish in the top four?

It’s a very tight call but I think they can. Leicester’s loss to West Ham last weekend brought them back into the race not for third, but for fourth, with Chelsea, the flying Hammers and Liverpool on the charge.

It will go down to the wire and I think third and fourth is up for grabs, rather than just fourth. The betting man in me would say Tuchel, if anyone, will get the job done.

How will they line-up?

I’d go with the usual 5-2-3 formation: Mendy; James, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Silva, Chilwell; Jorginho, Kante; Mount, Pulisic, Havertz.

What will the score be?

Chelsea’s front line finally clicked in their last Premier League game at Palace and I am predicting a win at the Bridge, not by a wide margin, I’m going with 2-0.