West Ham vs Chelsea: Kurt Zouma is the Premier League's comeback kid

Many eyebrows were raised when Kurt Zouma swapped Stamford Bridge for a trip over to the London Stadium during the summer.

Sure, the Frenchman had slipped down the pecking order with the Blues but a departure to their lesser regarded neighbours in the east of the capital was perceived as a big downgrade.

Zouma had, after all, shown bursts of extreme promise with Chelsea and performed brightly in periods which had gone unhindered by persistent injuries.

Nonetheless, Zouma's mind was set.

The 27-year-old defender - who once publicly admitted he was aiming to one day win the Ballon d'Or - had decided that David Moyes' Hammers were the team with which he would begin his rising-from-the-ashes act.

And Zouma has been good to his word, so far. He has cemented his place in the Hammers side and has shown a huge upturn in form.

He has the faith of his manager and the backing of a loyal fan base. Yet now Zouma must step up to even greater levels after it was recently confirmed that his partner Angelo Ogbonna has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a recent win over Liverpool.

Sportsmail takes a look at how Zouma has stepped up, whether he can be the knight in shining armour that Moyes now desperately needs, and just how he is shaping up ahead of facing former club Chelsea on Saturday lunchtime...

Mr Consistent

For the first time in a long while Zouma is putting a run together on the pitch and benefitting from regular minutes.

Zouma has 900 minutes under his belt so far this season, and counting.

He has fast become a staple of a West Ham side who are proving that last season's successful exploits were no fluke.

The Hammers are back up and flying this season and sit in fourth after 14 matches played - a point clear of Arsenal in fifth.

With Zouma forming a solid base at the back alongside Ogbonna, he is now set to be depended upon to continue his form and strike up a similar understanding with the likely stand-in Issa Diop.

Stats impressive

It is clear to the naked eye that the Frenchman is playing with more confidence and swagger in his game, though it is always with the numbers that we can either corroborate this and prove it to simply be a front.

When it comes to the data, Zouma is cutting the mustard alongside some of the best in the division.

So far during the current campaign Zouma has successfully won 58.7% of his duels - placing him 17th out of all defenders in the Premier League.

Similarly, Zouma is making an average of 4.9 clearances per game, making him sixth in the whole top flight in this category.

Mosrt impressively, not a single player has managed to dribble past Zouma yet, putting him top of the pile in that defensive category.

While West Ham are perhaps punching above their weight and showing the new era under Moyes is very much a force to be reckoned with, it is the likes of Zouma battling away in the shadows who are supporting the whole project at its base.

On the ball

One of the most interesting elements of Zouma's game this season is most certainly the drastic upturn in his passing ability.

It goes without saying that elite level football of present day requires a team to be swift passers of the ball, from back to front and with a high level of retention.

So, with that said, it appears Zouma has very much been working on this aspect of his game.

The Frenchman is making 32.5 accurate passes per match, according to SofaScore, placing him 27th out of all Premier League defenders.

What's more, Zouma also boasts a mightily impressive passing accuracy of 84.4%, which has him just outside the top 10 of passing defenders in the league (ranked 12th).

Not only is Zouma battling away for the Hammers and getting stuck in, he is also regularly bailing his side out with clearances and passing his way competently around the pitch at the same time.

Given West Ham forked out the pricey sum of £30m to bring Zouma to the London stadium, it's fair to say they foresaw this steep rise in performance, given the correct coaching.

Man for the big occasion

Just circling back here to Zouma's lofty claims in 2015 of wanting to win the Ballon d'Or - if nothing else this shows a rich vein of confidence flowing through the player.

Zouma made such comments knowing that defenders very rarely win football's most prestigious solo award, but that didn't stop him saying it anyway.

It's admirable self-belief and something which will give Hammers fans the confidence that Zouma can be the man for the big occasion.

When Chelsea arrive at the London Stadium Zouma will likely have mixed feelings. On what hand a case of what could have been... yet on the other a desperate desire to prove the doubters wrong.

Should Zouma lead his new side to victory over his former employers, the knock-on effect could be huge.

West Ham would bolster their points tally and as a result place a stronger grip on fourth place, while also pulling Chelsea down from their perch at the summit.

They have done it recently with Liverpool, and Moyes' men will feel like there is no reason why a similar performance cannot be reproduced.