Fulham meet Chelsea at Craven Cottage in a West London derby between two inconsistent Premier League teams.
Victory would see Fulham climb to ninth in the table, whilst Chelsea can move up to 11th with a win.
Team News
Kenny Tete is a doubt for Fulham after he missed their last two matches with a knock.
Sasa Lukic (knee) is set to be available but Tosin Adarabioyo (groin) and Adama Traore (hamstring) are sidelined.
Chelsea will be without Nicolas Jackson who is suspended after he picked up five yellow cards in their opening six league games, although he did feature in their Carabao Cup win over Brighton due to yellow card suspensions not rolling over to cup competitions.
Marcus Bettinelli (unspecified), Trevoh Chalobah (Achilles), Benoit Badiashile (muscle), Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) and Noni Madueke (knock) all face late fitness tests.
Malo Gusto (suspension), Ben Chilwell, Reece James (both hamstring), Wesley Fofana (ACL), Romeo Lavia (ankle) and Christopher Nkunku (knee) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Fulham host Chelsea at Craven Cottage on Monday 2 October in a 8pm BST kick-off, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Fulham have won just one of their last 22 meetings against Chelsea (W1, D8, L13).
- Chelsea have lost just one of their last 11 visits to Fulham (W7, D3, L1).
- Fulham are looking to go unbeaten in three consecutive matches against Chelsea for the first time since they claimed three draws between December 2011 – November 2012.
- Another clean sheet would see Fulham keep three consecutive clean sheets for the first time since February.
- Chelsea are winless in their last six London derbies in the Premier League (D2, L4).
Prediction
Although results haven’t exactly been consistent with goals difficult to come by, Fulham do seem to have found some defensive solidness with clean sheets in their last two league games which will be important in a bogey fixture like this game.
Fulham however did beat Norwich 2-1 in midweek Carabao Cup action with a dominant performance which is a timely morale boost, which they should use as a launchpad coming into this derby because they felt more like the attacking team that they should be.
Chelsea meanwhile delivered a clinical win over Brighton in midweek but losing Jackson for this game is a huge loss momentum wise in attack, given their central striker issues with only Broja proven in that position up front available for selection.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues also are in poor form with just one win in their six league games on top of erratically unpredictable performances bereft of much clinical end product, which is something that Fulham could take advantage of if they find their scoring boots again.
Either way, this game doesn’t exactly scream thriller by any stretch and the added incentive of local pride will only make the game more cagey, which might just suit Fulham if they can get Chelsea on the ropes and frustrated.
Prediction: Fulham 1-0 Chelsea
Result: Fulham 0-2 Chelsea
Leave a Reply