Chelsea FC
Fulham FC
Fulham FC
Chelsea and Fulham clash in huge London derby with implications for both top and bottom
Chelsea to win 2-1
After beating West Ham last weekend, Chelsea can further cement their place in the top four of the Premier League this weekend by beating relegation favourites Fulham in a London derby.
Chelsea impressed in their midweek clash in the Champions League against Real Madrid, scoring the away goal and bringing a 1-1 draw back to Stamford Bridge next week.
Those games will certainly impact this one, with Thomas Tuchel likely to rotate his squad to ensure that his players are fresh enough to cope with three fixtures in eight days. Could that harm their chances here?
Fulham, unfortunately for their talented manager Scott Parker, appear to have lost the race to survive in the Premier League this season, although they do have five games left to try and save themselves.
With a seven-point gap to 17th place Brighton, and with just one point earned from their last five games, it appears unlikely.
Form Guide (all comps): LWDWD
Reasons to be cheerful:
Tuchel’s side are so tough to beat right now
Beat Fulham earlier in the season
Reasons to be fearful:
Rotating players could mean a drop in performance
Have only scored three goals in their last five games (all competitions)
The Chelsea machine continues to roll on, impressing once against as they earned a hard-fought draw against Real Madrid in midweek.
They now have a great chance of making the Champions League final, and most people would admit that it has been down to Thomas Tuchel’s organisation and making it incredibly tough for opponents to beat them.
Sure, they haven’t always been particularly free-flowing going forward, and have scored just three goals from their last five games, but when you defend as well as this Chelsea side do, you don’t need to score too many yourself.
They will likely rotate some of their key players here, with the return leg against Real Madrid just a few days later, which is something that could cause a problem for them here. Fulham will be determined to prove they are still in with a chance of survival, so the Blues cannot allow their performance levels to drop.
Star Man – Mason Mount
May well be rested here, but Mount has been a key player all season for Chelsea. He is so good at linking midfield and attack.
Form Guide (all comps): LLLLD
Reasons to be cheerful:
A good moment to play Chelsea
Earned a point against Arsenal in their last game
Reasons to be fearful:
Time has surely run out for them to reach safety
Only scored three in their last five
Like Chelsea, Fulham haven’t necessarily been at their best going forward recently, with just three goals scored in their last five fixtures.
However, unlike their opponents, Fulham are nowhere near as tight at the back. Technically, Fulham can still crawl their way out of danger with five games to go, but it appears highly unlikely due to their desperately poor form of late.
The Cottagers grabbed a point against Arsenal last weekend, despite leading the game until the 97th minute, and will hope to take some positives from that game into this.
Here, there are no new injury concerns for Fulham to deal with, though Kenny Tete could return after a spell on the sidelines due to Covid-19
Star Man – Josh Maja
Scored against Arsenal last weekend and will be hoping to continue his form against another London side here.
Chelsea are favourites
Fulham will make it difficult for them
A low scoring game
With neither of these sides exactly banging in the goals right now, it’s not hard to say that this game will be a low scoring affair.
Chelsea are likely to chop and change their team selection, which could give Fulham a small advantage, though you would expect the home side to smell the opportunity to move further ahead in the race for the top four.
Chelsea to win 2-1
