West Ham’s Michail Antonio has warned his side that they need to watch out for one key Chelsea player this weekend.

Chelsea host London rivals West Ham on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League.

For the Blues, they’re still in the race to finish in the European positions with four matches remaining in the season. This comes after Mauricio Pochettino’s side beat Tottenham 2-0 this week to move up to eighth in the league table.

As for ninth-placed West Ham, they are two points behind Chelsea and struggling for results lately. In fact, the Hammers only have one victory from their previous nine games across all competitions.

Michail Antonio praises Chelsea star

West Ham striker Michail Antonio, 34, has paid credit to an upcoming opponent for tomorrow’s game.

He’s applauded Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer for a stunning debut year at Stamford Bridge.

In fairness, the 21-year-old attacking playmaker has been breathtaking this campaign. He’s actually got 23 goals and 13 assists in 41 Blues appearances so far across all competitions.

When asked what’s impressed him about Chelsea this season, Antonio told Sky Sports: “Cole Palmer. Obviously he’s been quality this season. Got 20 [league] goals.

“The crazy thing is we tried to sign him ourselves and Chelsea stole him from us.

“He is a quality player and he’s doing well… Hopefully this weekend we can keep him quiet.”

West Ham almost signed Cole Palmer

It was Chelsea who signed Palmer from Manchester City last summer, which has turned out to be a stunning bit of business.

However, he nearly ended up in east London.

Karren Brady, the current vice-chairman of West Ham, previously shared that David Moyes’ side had a deal agreed to bring Palmer to the London Stadium before Chelsea intervened.

Brady said via The Sun: “Cole [Palmer[ is as cool a dude in front of goal as Jimmy Greaves himself. Which is probably why David Moyes tried very hard to sign him. We even had a deal agreed with City until Chelsea swooped.”

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