Fulham-Chelsea is a Premier League Week 7 replay and is played on Thursday at 9pm: stats, TV, line-ups, predictions
In the Premier League, the first matches that were postponed last September for public order reasons following the death of Queen Elizabeth begin to be made up. It starts with the captivating London derby, which is also very close given the very few kilometres separating the two venues, between Fulham and Chelsea.
The fans of the Cottagers are experiencing a particularly exhilarating moment, one that could even be described as historic, considering that in recent decades they have rarely been in front of their hated cousins in the standings. Yes, because the two teams, which started with different objectives, approach this derby with diametrically opposite moods. Fulham are the great surprise of the Premier League together with Newcastle: despite being newly promoted and having set themselves the objective of maintaining their category at the start of the season – avoiding relegation immediately to the Championship as has often happened in previous seasons – they are currently floating close to the European zone: in eighteen days Marco Silva’s men have scored the same points as Liverpool (28) and are five points behind Tottenham in fifth place.
Chelsea’s crisis continues
After the break Fulham took advantage of a favourable schedule and strung together three consecutive wins against Crystal Palace, Southampton and Leicester. The winning streak continued in the FA Cup, where they disposed of Hull City (0-2).
Fulham’s Wilson
The second defeat in a row against Manchester City – in the FA Cup it was decidedly heavier than the one suffered a few days earlier in the league – caused an outburst of protest from the Chelsea fans, who during the Etihad Stadium match loudly invoked the names of former coach Tuchel – who was exonerated in September to make way for Graham Potter – and former owner Abramovich. The Blues lost 4-0 to the Citizens, offering an unseemly performance for a club of their calibre. They are even tenth in the league and have barely won a game since October. Will the arrival of Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid be enough to calm the boiling spirits of the square?
The Prediction
Chelsea come to Craven Cottage with a slew of absentees and with their self-esteem underfoot after the Manchester debacle. In our opinion Fulham have everything they need to avoid defeat: if you want to forget the result, you can focus on the goals: we imagine both sides will score at least one each, despite the Blues’ offensive problems.
Fulham-Chelsea likely line-ups
- FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, Ream, Adarabioyo, Robinson; Reed, Palhinha; De Cordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Vinicius.
- CHELSEA (4-3-3): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Koulibaly, Thiago Silva, Cucurella; Kovacic, Zakaria, Jorginho; Ziyech, Havertz, Mount.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
