West Ham boss praises Chelsea squad ahead of EFL Cup clash

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic believes his side will face a Chelsea side brimming with confidence in their EFL Cup clash on Wednesday.

The Blues have beaten Hull, Leicester and Manchester United since their head coach Antonio Conte switched to a 3-4-3 formation this month.

And Bilic feels even if Conte rotates his squad, Chelsea will still be formidable opponents given their strength in depth.

Bilic said: “After the defeat against Arsenal, they changed the system and then had three wins, three good performances, three clean sheets also.

“They are definitely very positive now. They are playing good football, they are a strong team, and are one of the candidates to win the league.

“I’m sure Chelsea will put a strong team out, because they don’t have a weak team.

“[Michy] Batshuayi might come in, Willian might come in, Oscar might come in, John Terry might come in – they are all first-team players.”

Bilic said he would select his best available team against Chelsea in a bid to progress.

“Our approach will be to put out our strongest possible team. It’s a very interesting competition for us,” he said.