Fulham welcome West-London neighbours, Chelsea to Craven Cottage in a huge local derby at both ends of the Premier League table.
Should Brighton lose Saturday’s mid-afternoon trip to Leeds, Fulham can climb out of the relegation zone with victory.
Chelsea meanwhile can go seventh with a win given their superior goal difference over Southampton.
Team News
Ruben Loftus-Cheek is absent for Fulham because the terms of his loan deal means that he is ineligible to face his parent club – Chelsea.
Aleksandr Mitrovic (fitness) is a doubt but Tom Cairney (knee) and Mario Lemina (knock) are ruled out.
Chelsea will be without N’Golo Kante who is ruled out through suspension, after collecting five yellow cards.
Reece James (hamstring) and Andreas Christiansen (knee) are however both set to be in contention for selection.
Stat Attack
- Fulham have won none of their last 18 Premier League meetings against Chelsea (D7, L11)
- Chelsea have scored at least twice in each of their last three trips to Craven Cottage (W3).
- Fulham are yet to have a player sent off in this Premier League fixture, whereas Chelsea had four players red carded in 28 previous clashes.
- Blues’ Tammy Abraham has scored one left-footed league goal in 14 appearances this season compared to none in 34 outings last season.
- No Fulham player has made more headed clearances this season than the 39 made by Tosin Adarabioyo.
Prediction
Fulham have had a rough month with a Coronavirus outbreak yet have managed to scrap their way to five consecutive draws against tough teams plus a hard-fought FA Cup win at QPR in extra time, despite often having to scrap hard for those five crucial points which could be the difference come May.
Chelsea on the other hand have let their defensive guard slip with just four points from their last six league games, yet comfortably dispatched Morecambe in the FA Cup last weekend so the pressure is on to prove that result wasn’t a fluke by virtue of superior quality and instead the start of a fightback.
Add in the fact that Fulham have played twice in the last week whereas Chelsea have had six days come kick-off to prepare plus a strong record in this fixture, it is difficult not to favour the Blues here but Fulham’s defensive improvement will make this a tougher task.
Prediction: Fulham 1-2 Chelsea
Result: Fulham 0-1 Chelsea