West Ham must improve home form, says Bilic

REUTERS – West Ham are unbeaten away from home in the Premier League this season, scoring wins over Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, but manager Slaven Bilic wants his side to improve their form at Upton Park, where they face Chelsea on Saturday.

As impressive as their away form has been, West Ham have struggled at home, winning just once in four games and suffering defeats to Leicester and newly promoted Bournemouth.

Fourth in the league after taking 17 points from nine games, West Ham will have no better opportunity to beat champions Chelsea, who are 12th after a woeful start to the season.

“We have to be more patient when we play at home. This is a good time to play Chelsea, but they need to have a few good results,” Bilic told reporters.

Despite Chelsea’s early season struggles, Bilic has backed under-fire manager Jose Mourinho to turn their fortunes around and is certain they will finish in the top four.

“I know Mourinho’s team are always hungry and no one expected them to be where they are now. Sometimes that happens in football,” Bilic said.

“They are the champions and he is the best manager around. It is a big challenge for us and a big test.”

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)