Friday Night Football sees Chelsea host Fulham in a West London derby as both teams chase an European spot.
Victory will see Chelsea leapfrog Fulham and go sixth in the table until Saturday teatime, whereas the Cottagers can go sixth themselves with a win and open a five-point gap to their West London rivals.
Team News
British record signing, Enzo Fernandez could make his debut for Chelsea after joining from Benfica in midweek, although the club are awaiting international clearance which could prevent his participation in this game.
Noni Madueke could also be in contention for his first start for the Blues.
Ben Chilwell (thigh), Reece James (knee) and Raheem Sterling (hamstring) could return if pass late fitness tests.
Edouard Mendy (shoulder/finger), Denis Zakaria (quad), N’Golo Kante (hamstring), Mateo Kovacic (calf), Joao Felix (suspension), Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja (both knee) remain absent.
Fulham have no fresh injury concerns to report as Sasa Lukic and Cedric Soares look for their club debuts, after joining on permanent transfer and loan respectively on Deadline Day.
Neeskens Kebano (Achilles) remains absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Chelsea host Fulham at Stamford Bridge in a 8pm GMT kick-off on Friday 3 February, live on Sky Sports in UK.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have lost just one of their last 21 league meetings against Fulham (W13, D7, L1).
- Fulham are winless in 15 Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge (D5, L10).
- Chelsea have kept clean sheets in their last four home matches against Fulham (W3, D1), in which their three recent wins were all by 2-0 results.
- Three of Kai Havertz’s five league goals for Chelsea this season were from headers, whilst his two other goals were scored on his left foot.
- Aleksandar Mitrovic has been involved in more goals this season than any other Fulham player, having scored 11 goals and provided one assist in 18 appearances in all competitions.
Prediction
Having spent big money on Fernandez and Mandueke in the last fortnight and sat 10 points off a top-four finish, this match is realistically a must-win for Chelsea if they’re to start carving their way back into the fight for a Champions League spot.
Graham Potter’s Blues though will need to produce better finishing than they managed at Liverpool a fortnight ago, in which they were lucky to draw after some shaky set-piece defending at times.
Fulham meanwhile beat Chelsea at home a few weeks ago and will certainly come here without much fear, after resting various regulars in their scrappy FA Cup draw against Sunderland in which their end product was disappointing for the third consecutive game.
Marco Silva though will have players like Willian, Dan James and Mitrovic back in the starting line-up here so I do expect Fulham to come out and attack this game, especially in knowledge that the pressure is largely on Chelsea to step up for various reasons.
A draw therefore feels like a reasonable bet but Fulham’s away record at Stamford Bridge has been poor, yet this season has seen them spring surprises compared to expectations so don’t rule out a shock away win here.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Fulham
Result: Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
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