Bompastor needed to do 'research' on Guarino

Story by[]BBCFri, January 9, 2026 at 5:46 PM UTC·1 min readChelsea manager Sonia Bompastor says she has done "a lot of enquiring" about West Ham United's new head coach Rita Guarino before their fixture on Sunday afternoon (12:00 GMT). The Blues will be hoping to take all three points against the Hammers, who are currently sat just two points above bottom side Liverpool, in their fifth London derby of the season. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHowever it is hard to know what to expect from Guarino, who was appointed last month following Rehanne Skinner's sacking, due to this being her first managerial job outside of Italy."I've never faced her before so we've had to do a lot of enquiring about what she was doing at her previous club," Bompastor told BBC Sport. "It was important for us to research this in order to prepare for the game in the best way possible."But it has been about finding a balance between focusing on them and also focusing on ourselves. We are playing at home and we know our goals, so we want to go into the game making sure we play at our best level."We have to respect our opposition because it is a London derby and we know they need some points, so they will be coming here with a lot of motivation."We never take anything for granted.