Fulham will host Chelsea on Monday night in a London Derby. Midweek third-round EFL Cup matches saw both clubs win by a single goal. The Cottagers defeated Norwich City 2-1 and the Blues defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0.
Preview (Fulham vs. Chelsea)
Fulham welcomed Norwich back to Premier League territory for their EFL Cup matchup in the middle of the week. They are stringing together a good run of results before the hectic autumn calendar. Carlos Vinicius and Alex Iwobi advanced the Cottagers into the round of 16. Borja Sainz’s response with 15 minutes remaining was insufficient for the Canaries. Marco Silva’s team extended their unbeaten streak in all competitions to three games.
The hosts’ victory against Norwich came four days after a dull 0-0 draw with another capital team Crystal Palace. It saw Silva’s team begin the weekend in 11th place in the standings. They will remain until Sunday’s match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford. A third straight Premier League clean sheet may be on the menu here for Fulham after they avoided an EFL Cup upset and have only lost one of their last six games overall. Few will fault them for losing to treble-winners Manchester City at the Etihad, though.
Fulham ended an eight-game streak without a Premier League clean sheet at Craven Cottage on September 16. They have lost each of their last nine London derbies in the top flight. It’s easy to guess who their most recent capital victory came against. Chelsea held off Brighton at Stamford Bridge and finally earned their first victory of the month. This came in the midst of another depressing stretch of Premier League play.
He also snapped the Blues’ wretched three-game drought without making the net bulge. Although they have had favorable xG statistics in each of their last three Premier League games, Mauricio Pochettino’s expensively assembled team will travel to Craven Cottage without a win or even a goal after losing to an Ollie Watkins goal against Aston Villa last weekend. Chelsea only have a 3-0 humiliation of Luton Town to show for their last 10 top-flight games.
Team News
Although Calvin Bassey, a defender for Fulham, experienced a recurrence of a prior back injury, Silva did not provide an update on the former Ajax player in his pre-game news conference. Fulham did not escape their cup victory against Norwich unharmed. Tosin Adarabioyo (groin) and Adama Traore (thigh) are also restrained to the medical area, while Kenny Tete will require examination due to his own groin problem. Sasa Lukic, however, has resumed team training after his knee trouble. This will be Andreas Pereira’s 200th league appearance in his career.
In the previous EFL Cup match, Chelsea also lost a defender to injury, and Pochettino has provided a gloomy update on Ben Chilwell’s hamstring injury, which will keep the left-back in the hospital for an unknown amount of time. Romeo Lavia (ankle), Benoit Badiashile (hamstring), Reece James (hamstring), Marcus Bettinelli (knee), Wesley Fofana (knee), and Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring) are all being treated by Blues medical staff, who are already working long hours. However, Pochettino is optimistic that Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke will be able to assist in some way.
Jackson and Malo Gusto are on the naughty step; in Malo Gusto’s absence, Marc Cucurella should resume his right-back responsibilities, while in Jackson’s absence, Raheem Sterling might fill in as a substitute striker if Armando Broja is not yet declared ready for a start following his terrible knee injury. Wins in the Premier League may be hard to come by for Pochettino’s undermanned Chelsea team, who attempted and failed twice to defeat the Cottagers last season due to suspensions and injuries. A draw appears to be the most likely result.
Fulham 1 – 1 Chelsea
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