Chelsea host Fulham at Stamford Bridge in a mid-table West London derby.
Victory would put Chelsea as high as seventh in the table, whilst Fulham can go 12th with a win.
Team News
Benoit Badiashile could return for Chelsea after he missed their last three matches with a muscle injury.
Ben Chilwell (hamstring) and Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) could also feature following their return to first-team training.
Marc Cucurella (ankle), Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Lesley Ugochukwu (all hamstring), Wesley Fofana (ACL), Romeo Lavia (knock), Robert Sanchez (knee), Nicolas Jackson (international) and Christopher Nkunku (hip) remain ruled out.
Fulham could be without Harrison Reed after he missed training due to illness, although he did feature in their first leg loss at Liverpool in their Carabao Cup semi-final tie.
Adama Traore (hamstring), Fode Ballo-Toure, Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi (all international) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Chelsea host Fulham at 12:30pm GMT on Saturday 13 January at Stamford Bridge, live on TNT Sport 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea are unbeaten in 12 of their last 13 league meetings against Fulham (W8, D4, L1).
- Fulham have failed to win in their last 18 league visits to Chelsea (D7, L11).
- Chelsea have kept clean sheets in each of their last five home games against Fulham (W3, D2).
- Chelsea have kept just one clean sheet in their last eight league matches at home (W3, D2, L3).
- Fulham are winless in their three away London derbies so far this season (D2, L1).
Prediction
Despite their performance inconsistency and awful end product in the first leg defeat of their Carabao Cup semi-final at Middlesbrough, Chelsea have a huge opportunity to move above Brighton, Manchester United and Newcastle if they can sort out their finishing.
Fulham meanwhile always knew that getting a result at Liverpool was a tough ask but they did incredibly well to lead for much of the game, yet two defensive errors and poor end product proved costly for the Cottagers but I do expect them to be up for this West London derby.
Marco Silva’s Fulham though have an awful away record at Stamford Bridge but with Chelsea’s end product too unpredictable to call despite their steady home form, I wouldn’t be surprised if their neighbours can nick something here.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Fulham
Result: Chelsea 1-0 Fulham
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