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Premier League | Gameweek 7
Jan 12, 2023 at 8pm UK
Craven Cottage
CL
Chelsea logo

Fulham
2 - 1
Chelsea

Willian (25'), Vinicius (73')
Robinson (9'), Pereira (14'), Adarabioyo (84'), Leno (90+7')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Koulibaly (47')
Chalobah (36'), Hall (62'), Mount (76')

Preview: Fulham vs. Chelsea - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Fulham vs. Chelsea - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Saturday's Premier League clash between Fulham and Chelsea, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

Since this article was published, this match has been postponed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The post-Thomas Tuchel era at Chelsea begins with a challenging Premier League West London derby on Saturday, as Fulham welcome their capital counterparts to Craven Cottage.

The Blues enter the contest on the back of a 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, while the hosts went down 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.


Match preview

Preview: Fulham vs. Chelsea - prediction, team news, lineups

Few defences have been able to quell the goalscoring juggernaut that is Aleksandar Mitrovic, but the Serbian's stunning effort against Tottenham was in vain last weekend as Fulham lost 2-1 to their London rivals.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Kane had made the net ripple for the Lilywhites before Mitrovic found the top corner with aplomb, but away days continued to bedevil the Cottagers, who have still proven to be a tough nut to crack so far this term.

A tally of eight points from their opening six fixtures is enough to see Fulham occupy a top-half place in the table - 10th more specifically - and their only two league defeats this season have come by just the one goal against Arsenal and Tottenham.

While the Cottagers have struggled to stamp their authority on rival turf, home is where the heart is for Silva and co, as they could win three Premier League games in a row at Craven Cottage for the first time in a decade with victory over an unstable Chelsea.

The Mitrovic-inspired hosts have also struck at least two goals in each of their three home games this season - albeit while failing to keep a clean sheet - but the trusty new manager bounce could come into play for those in blue.

Thomas Tuchel remained loyal to Chelsea even when their existence was being questioned at one stage, but shades of Roman Abramovich were unearthed when Todd Boehly gave the green light to the German's departure on Wednesday morning.

Tuchel had been given free rein to mould the squad as he pleased following the exit of sporting director Marina Granovskaia, but a £250m summer outlay could not save Chelsea from an underwhelming start to the season, which reached a low ebb on Tuesday.

Mislav Orsic struck the winner for Dinamo Zagreb in what proved to be Tuchel's 100th and final game in charge of Chelsea, who are reportedly on the brink of appointing Brighton & Hove Albion's Graham Potter to take the poisoned chalice.

While Chelsea followed a pattern of losing one and then winning one in Tuchel's final days, the defeat to Dinamo Zagreb marked a third straight away loss for the West London club in all tournaments, and their exhaustive defensive spending has only led to a five-game run without a Premier League clean sheet.

Potter's arrival is expected to be confirmed before the Craven Cottage bout kicks off, but interim staff may still be tasked with taking charge of the West London derby, as sixth-placed Chelsea aim to kick off yet another new era with an eighth-straight win against Fulham.

Fulham Premier League form:
  • D
  • D
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • L

Fulham form (all competitions):
  • D
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • L

Chelsea Premier League form:
  • W
  • D
  • L
  • W
  • L
  • W

Chelsea form (all competitions):
  • D
  • L
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • L


Team News

Fulham lost left-back Antonee Robinson to an ankle sprain in the first half of their defeat to Tottenham, meaning that Kevin Mbabu - a right-back by trade - ought to fill in for Silva's side this weekend.

Attackers Harry Wilson and Manor Solomon remain out of contention with their respective knee injuries, but the Cottagers have no other fresh concerns, and the attacking reinforcements are lining up for their opportunities.

Carlos Vinicius is fighting an uphill battle to displace Mitrovic in the number nine spot, but Neeskens Kebano and Bobby Reid are now facing increased competition from Willian and Daniel James, the latter of whom will expect to be in with a good chance of starting here.

Similarly, Chelsea also have few concerns to worry about on the injury front and should only be without the luckless N'Golo Kante, whose thigh injury may not heal completely until after the international break.

While Potter can be expected to implement a Tuchel-like back three that made him so successful at Brighton, it remains to be seen how the interim staff will set up this Chelsea side, which should feature Edouard Mendy and Marc Cucurella in defence after the pair were benched in Zagreb.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's forgettable Chelsea debut ended after just 59 minutes on Tuesday, but the ex-Arsenal and Barcelona man should fend off Armando Broja to start upon his return to the Premier League.

Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Tete, Adarabioyo, Ream, Mbabu; Reed, Palhinha; Decordova-Reid, Pereira, James; Mitrovic

Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Fofana, Silva, Koulibaly; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Cucurella; Mount, Aubameyang, Sterling


We say: Fulham 1-1 Chelsea

Without being able to accurately predict how Chelsea will set themselves up for a fiery West London derby, a Fulham side who have that golden touch at home should have a glint in their eyes.

The Blues' recent record in this fixture does make for positive reading, but we are struggling to pick a clear winner, and a misfiring Chelsea attack will aim to take advantage of Fulham's own defensive lapses to take a point back to base.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Away Win:data


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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool21155150203050
2Arsenal22128243212244
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest22135433221144
4Chelsea22117444271740
5Manchester CityMan City22115644291538
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle22115638261238
7Bournemouth22107536261037
8Aston Villa2210663334-136
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2281043530534
10Fulham228953430433
11Brentford2284104039128
12Crystal Palace226972528-327
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd2275102732-526
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham2275102743-1626
15Tottenham HotspurSpurs22731245351024
16Everton214891828-1020
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2244143251-1916
18Ipswich TownIpswich2237122043-2316
19Leicester CityLeicester2235142348-2514
20Southampton2213181550-356
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