England Premier League
Thursday 12th January 2023
Kick off at 8pm GMT
Venue: Craven Cottage
Match Preview:
It’s the west London derby on Thursday evening as Fulham take on Chelsea and we should be in for a very interesting game. Of course the teams on paper and history are light years apart but football in the present tense doesn’t work like that and indeed Fulham will come into this game with a lot of confidence and will be eyeing victory over their local rivals.
Fulham have won their last 3 games and are only behind Manchester United with the best form in the Premier League. In that time the Cottagers have beaten Crystal Palace, Southampton and Leicester and by their standards they are having an excellent season so far and are on course to finish in a European place, that’s not bad for a team who have just been newly promoted. The club are in 7th place and would go past Liverpool with victory here. At home they have won 4 of their 9 games so far and lost twice with just the one loss from their last five games at Craven Cottage. However it’s just one win from their last three here. Overall the majority of their points have come at home with 15 so far from their total of 28.
It’s just one win in their last five games for Chelsea and one has to wonder if the pressure is starting to build on Graham Potter? He should be given some time but at a club like Chelsea who demand to be playing Champions League football and competing for trophies Potter will be feeling the heat. The Blues have dropped to 10th place and are 10 points behind a top four finish and the irony for now is that Potter’s former side Brighton are above them by two points. To make it worse Chelsea were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City a few days ago losing 4-0 and of course they also lost to the champions in their last league game by 1-0, it hasn’t been the greatest of weeks.
Since the restart the only bright spot has been winning against Bournemouth but the Blues will need to find consistency quick or they may not be playing any type of European football next season.
Team News:
Fulham: Neeskens Kebano is out long term with his Achilles, he is currently the only player sidelined though.
Chelsea: Christian Pulisic has been ruled out for at least a month with a knee injury. Raheem Sterling is out with his hamstring and it is currently unclear when he will be able to return. Edouard Mendy is a doubt with a muscle injury, Armando Broja will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury sustained a few months ago. Ben Chilwell is still out with his hamstring. Wesley Fofana has a knee injury but may return next week. Reece James is about a month away with a knee injury. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is out with his calf and N’Golo Kante is missing for at least another 5 weeks with his hamstring.
Fulham vs Chelsea Head to Head:
The teams last played here in 2021 and Chelsea won 1-0.
Chelsea have won the last 7 meetings in a row.
Fulham have not beaten Chelsea since 2006 going back 22 games.
Fulham vs Chelsea Prediction:
Fulham has a dreadful record against Chelsea but one has to assume that this could be a great opportunity to put that right. The Cottagers are playing with so much freedom and scoring goals and are not afraid to go toe with toe with the better quality sides and being at home will only add to that.
For Chelsea the pressure is really on and one has to wonder if a club who are struggling for form, have just faced Manchester City twice in a row would really want this derby to be the next game. The Blues majority result on the road are losses with four so far from 9 games played and they have gone their last four games away from home with no wins at all. This is a real chance for Fulham to make a statement and pile on the misery for Potter and Chelsea, can they take it?
Fulham vs Chelsea Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (+0.5 Fulham) at 1.81
Anytime goalscorer: Aleksandar Mitrovic at 2.10
Half Time Correct Score: 0-0 or 1-0 to Fulham at 3.00 and 5.00
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