England Premier League
Monday 2nd October 2023
Kick off at 8pm BST
Venue: Craven Cottage
Match Preview:
The west London derby always has quite an atmosphere about it and while Chelsea have had far the superior team and glory over the past 20 years Fulham will fancy an upset on Monday evening.
The Cottagers are above Chelsea in the league and come into this game in 12th place with 8 points. Form has been stable from Marco Silva’s side with one defeat from their past four games and that was against Manchester City. Since then Fulham have beaten Luton 1-0 and in their last game they drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace. At home Fulham have played just two games so far including the win over Luton and a 3-0 loss against Brentford.
Chelsea’s start to the season has been poor although they did knock Brighton out of the EFL Cup in midweek. The feeling is that this Chelsea side have the potential to be strong but are still gelling. Those excuses are going to run out fast though. The Blues have won just 5 points from a possible 18 and are in 15th place. They have lost 50% of their games so far and have failed to win a match in their last three encounters. Those games have included two defeats against Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa which both came at home. They have also drawn against Bournemouth, goals have been a real worry for a side who have spent £400m this summer and they haven’t managed to score since the end of August.
Team News:
Fulham: Calvin Bassey is a doubt with a back injury. Kenny Tete will be assessed following his groin injury. Tosin is not due back until the end of the month with a groin injury. Adama Traore has a hamstring injury with no fixed return date.
Chelsea: Malo Gusto is suspended for the next 3 games following last weekend’s sending off. Carney Chukwuemeka has recovered from injury but has fitness issues and so remains a doubt to return for this game. Trevoh Chabolah misses out again but could return next week following his hamstring injury. Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku are all out with no fixed return date. Reece James is missing but could be back next week following his hamstring injury
Fulham vs Chelsea Head to Head:
Last season Fulham beat Chelsea in this fixture winning the game 2-1.
Chelsea have won seven of the last nine meetings.
There is a 60% chance to see under 2.5 goals.
Chelsea were unable to beat Fulham in any games last season.
Fulham vs Chelsea Prediction:
The days of Chelsea being long odds on are over in games like these and the market is very open. It may feel like a risk but the win over Brighton in the EFL Cup in midweek seemed to be a good boost for the Blues and certainly a timely one. Chelsea has the team but this is something we have been saying every week and it has been disappointment after disappointment. However the Blues have the team to win these types of games and will and should be a genuine danger.
Fulham have already blown hot and cold and the memory is fresh in their 3-0 home loss against Brentford. But there is much to this Fulham side and we expect a close and at times frantic game, it should be a quality derby with end to end play but as we saw with Man Utd vs Crystal Palace, sometimes the players turn up for the cup games as they don't want to exit, and then underperform for the League games. Could this be the case here with Chelsea? Therefore we will back Fulham to get something from this game.
Fulham vs Chelsea Betting Tips:
Double chance (Fulham or draw) at 1.83
Both teams to score at 1.80
The 'PLACE BET' button will take you to BetUK.com, where these selections can be found. Please gamble responsibly, 18+ BeGambleAware.org
© Copyright topfootballtipster.com 2019
