Fulham vs Chelsea – Preview, H2H, Line-ups, Prediction | EPL 2022-23

Leicester City versus Chelsea-Christian Pulisic celebrates
Leicester City versus Chelsea-Christian Pulisic celebrates - IMAGO / Action Plus

Chelsea will begin life after Thomas Tuchel this Saturday when they visit Craven Cottage to face fellow London club Fulham. 

Venue: Craven Cottage (London)

Key Statistics

Fulham have won just one of their last 27 London derbies (D5, L21).

They have a mere 9% win rate against Chelsea (W7, D22, L45).

The hosts are unbeaten at home in the Premier League this season (W2, D1).

Chelsea have won eight of their last nine away London derbies, keeping seven clean sheets along the way.

They have lost their last three away games.

The visitors have won just two of their last six games. 

Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrović would become the first player to score in five straight top-flight games for a promoted side since 2011 with a strike here.

Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling has contributed to three goals in his last three PL appearances against Fulham (G2, A1).

Head to head

In 30 Premier League meetings between both sides, Chelsea have 19 wins while Fulham have ten wins.  

Latest performances in all competitions

Fulham: L-W-L-L-W

Chelsea: L-W-L-W-L

Fulham

Fulham will look to continue their decent start to the new season when they play host to Chelsea at Craven Cottage this weekend. 

Marco Silva’s men have maintained a fairly decent record in the Premier League when compared to fellow promoted sides Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest. With two wins, two draws and two losses, the Cottagers sit in 10th place with eight points after six rounds of football.

Fulham come into this game off the back of a 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur, with goals from Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Kane ensuring that Alexandar Mitrovic’s sixth strike of the season was all but consolation for the Cottagers.

Marco Silva will be demanding a quick response from his boys as they have done so far this season, where they are yet to record back-to-back losses in the Premier League. 

Fulham have the upper hand in this fixture as they come into this match fresher than their rivals who travelled to Croatia in midweek to take on Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League. 

However, the Cottagers are winless in their last five attempts against the blues in the West London Derby, therefore Marco Silva will be relying on his Serbian marksman to lead the lines once as they aim to inflict more damage on an already hurting Chelsea side.

Possible Fulham starting line-up

Bernd Leno; Kenny Tete, Tosin Adarabioyo, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; Harrison Reed, Joao Palhinha; Bobby Reid, Andrea Pereira, Neeskens Kebano; Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Injured: Manor Solomon, Harry Wilson

Doubtful: None 

Suspended: None 

Chelsea 

Chelsea suffered a heartbreaking Champions League defeat in midweek, which culminated in the sacking of Champions League-winning Coach Thomas Tuchel. 

The Blues come into this game with three wins in their last six games in the Premier League, with two losses and one draw making up their points tally so far. 

With the sacking of Tuchel who left with the club in sixth position, the Chelsea hierarchy are in a race against time to find a suitable replacement for the game against the Cottagers and the distraction may hamper their preparations for the trip to Craven Cottage. 

With their last game against West Ham ending in a controversial win for the Blues, which saw VAR rule out West Ham’s equaliser, Chelsea will have to produce a more than improved performance against the Cottagers than they did in their last two games. 

With their season under threat of being consumed by the whirlwind from sacking Thomas Tuchel, the players must now rally together to make sure that their season doesn’t derail pending the arrival of a new coach.

Possible Chelsea starting line-up

Edouard Mendy; Reece James, Kalidou Koulibaly, Thiago Silva, Marc Cucurella; Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic; Mason Mount, Raheem Sterling; Kai Havertz.

Injured: N’Golo Kante

Doubtful: None 

Suspended: None 

Prediction

Fulham 2-2 Chelsea