BT Sport apologise after Zola swears live on air ahead of West Ham vs Chelsea

BT Sport host Jake Humphrey was forced to apologise after Gianfranco Zola swore on live television ahead of West Ham's match against Chelsea.

The two London sides often serve up an entertaining clash in the Premier League with electric atmospheres.

There is not much love between the opposite ends of the capital but one man that is aware of both is Zola - who was in the BT Sport studio prior to kick-off along with Joe Cole and Rio Ferdinand.

Ferdinand waxed lyrical about the Italian as his highlights reel played with some top class free kicks against the Hammers on show.

But when asked about his natural ability against his hard work, Zola said: "Forgive me, that is bull****."

BT Sport's Humphrey immediately held his hand up and had to apologise as Ferdinand and Cole chuckled.

"That is a very strong word for this time in the morning," he said. "Apologies to our viewers for that use of word."

Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has continued to leave Romelu Lukaku out of the line-up as he recovers from injury.

The Belgian was brought on from the bench in the last two matches for the Blues.

But Kai Havertz has been given the nod ahead of the £97m against West Ham.

However, Mason Mount has made consecutive starts in the Premier League for the first time in two months after making a huge impact against Watford.

The England international scored and grabbed an assist against the Hornets to hand his side a 2-1 win to keep them top of the Premier League.

And Tuchel has admitted it is impossible to leave out the youngster due to his impact on the pitch.

"Maybe it's luck or maybe it's the effect he has to be the edge and to put the edge to our side," said the Blues coach.

"We know about this because it's a kind of statistic that is sometimes quite interesting, like who is on the pitch when we win, who starts when we win, who ends the matches when we win. We are aware of these statistics.

"I first heard about these statistics in American basketball, where the influence from one player is much higher because it's five against five compared to 11 against 11 playing with your foot.

"It's not a statistic that guarantees you to start because this would be maybe a bit too easy but it's something that we cannot deny.

"To have Mason brings a certain attitude, aura and mentality on the field and it's nice that he has this winning ratio. We are aware of it and it's full credit to him."