Fulham v Chelsea preview: Cottagers could punish lowly Blues
The midfielder will now be hoping to help the Cottagers make history, as after league victories over Crystal Palace, Southampton and Leicester, they seek a fourth straight top-flight victory for the first time since 1966!
That stunning recent form has propelled them up to seventh place in the table, just five points off the European places. They have been particularly strong at home, losing just twice in nine PL games (W4, D3).What might dampen Fulham’s expectations is the visit of west London rivals Chelsea, who are unbeaten in 21 H2H meetings since 2006 (W13, D8).
However, the pressure is all on Blues boss Graham Potter, who admitted they are “struggling as a football club” after a harrowing 4-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City on Sunday - not least because of a long injury list including N’Golo Kanté, Ben Chilwell and Reece James. That was Chelsea’s fifth loss in seven games across all competitions (W1, D1), with all five losses even seeing them fail to score.
That has led to speculation that chairman Todd Boehly may look to change manager for a second time this season, with tensions heightened by the risk of not finishing in a European place for the first time since 2015/16 after dropping to tenth place in the table.
Players to watch: Fulham could fill the hole left by Aleksandar Mitrović‘s suspension with Dan James, who has lost just two of his seven PL clashes with Chelsea (W3, D2), while his side have kept clean sheets in the other five games! Leading the opposition attack is likely to be Kai Havertz, who netted both goals when these teams last met in 2021 and has lost just two of his scoring appearances for Chelsea (W19, D3).
Hot stat: Seven of Fulham’s nine home PL games have seen both teams score - a joint-high in the division this season.
