Date: Sunday 16th
January 2021
Venue: Craven Cottage
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
It might have been
against lower League opposition, but it was nice to see us get a win, by a
margin, against Morecambe in the FA Cup last weekend. In the Premier League, just
one win from our last six games has seen us drop to ninth in the table, now ten
points adrift from the current leaders.
This evening’s game
sees us make the short trip to Craven Cottage, in a game delayed from yesterday
because
Fulham had to play midweek. As it turns out, it was well worth the delay, with
them taking a point against Spurs. That draw, was the fifth in a row for Fulham
and frustratingly for us, they’ve made themselves a tough side to break down.
We know only too well how we’ve fared against organised, resolute sides this season,
so I’m not relishing this particular derby.
Fulham look like getting a win sometime soon and our
form in the league hasn’t inspired confidence for a while, so it’s hard to
predict whether we’ll be getting a teatime treat or another dog’s dinner.
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going into
today’s game, Fulham manager, Scott Parker, says “As a manager, the turnaround is just too quick.
Before you know it, you’re back to it. Your mind turns straight to the next
game and there’s no bigger test than what we’ve got coming against Chelsea. It’s a good time for us to be playing any team. I feel we’re in a good
place, I feel like confidence is high in the squad, I feel like there’s a group
of players here who are starting to feel their worth in this division. Saturday
is a quick turnaround, but one we are prepared for.”
Chelsea
manager, Frank Lampard, meanwhile says “It’s an
exciting fixture. I always felt it had an extra edge to it. It has a different
relationship to other derbies, Fulham were sometimes in the Premier League,
sometimes not, but when they came they had a feeling of wanting to beat us.
Without fans it takes a slight edge off things, but
mentally as players and as a club we should retain that passion of what this
game means. Fulham are playing well, they played very well last night against
Tottenham, they could have won. That’s been their recent form. We must credit
Scott and his team. With a change of system and how they’ve worked, you can see
a clear style of play. They are very well organised and don’t give many chances
to teams. They have threats throughout their team. They’ve drawn with Liverpool
recently, they drew with Tottenham, and it’ll be a tough game no matter but we
have to focus on ourselves.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Fulham,
Mario Lemina (illness) and Tom Cairney (knee) are injured and Ruben
Loftus-Cheek is ineligible to play against us, which is no bad thing, given he
was outstanding midweek. Aleksandar Mitrovic could be available again.
For Chelsea,
N’Golo Kante is suspended, whilst Reece James and Andreas Christensen
have both recovered from injuries.
TEAMS
FULHAM (Possible line-up): Areola; Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo; Tete, Reid,
Reed, Anguissa, Robinson; Lookman, Cavaleiro
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Mendy; James, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Kovacic,
Jorginho, Mount; Pulisic, Werner, Ziyech
LAST SEASON
N/A
CURRENT FORM (PL)
FULHAM: LDDDDD
CHELSEA: LLWLDL
OTHER STUFF
- Fulham are without a win in the past 19 meetings in
all competitions.
- Chelsea have lost four of their past six Premier
League games
- Fulham haven’t gone six top-flight games without
defeat since the 2010-11 season.
- Chelsea could lose four consecutive away league
games for the first time since 2000
- Fulham have only conceded three goals in their past
six games in all competitions.
- Fulham are winless in 18 Premier League London
derbies.
PREDICTION
Sky Sports: Fulham 0-2 Chelsea
Sportsmole: Fulham 1-2 Chelsea
