Saturday’s Premier League matchup between Chelsea and Fulham takes place at Stamford Bridge between the Carabao Cup semifinals (1230 GMT).
Chelsea and Fulham, who lost the first leg of their Carabao Cup semifinal match, will face off at lunch on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. Both teams are in vulnerable positions.
Chelsea had plenty of opportunities to outscore Championship Middlesbrough 3-1, but Hayden Hackney’s goal caused them to lose 1-0.
Willian took advantage of Virgil van Dijk’s error to give Fulham an unexpected 1-0 lead at Anfield, leading the Cottagers.
Although Marco Silva’s team has recently achieved some noteworthy successes, Fulham is like a box of chocolates, as Forest Gump’s mother famously remarked.
Shortly after their 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Cottage, they laboriously defeated Championship underdogs Rotherham in the FA Cup.
They may have beaten every opponent they faced at home, but they have lost six of their trips and have shipped targets just for fun.
Their performance, especially against the larger clubs, is worrisome. They lost 4-3 and 2-1 against Liverpool despite heroic efforts.
They were defeated 3-0 by Newcastle, 3-1 by Aston Villa, 2-0 by Tottenham thanks to a dominant performance, and 5-1 by Man City earlier in the season.
Although Mauricio Pochettino faces a significant task in improving Chelsea’s away performance and consistency in the goal, their home record is still strong.
The Blues have won six of their ten games across all competitions, are undefeated in nine, and have racked up 16 goals in their last six games at the Bridge. They are generating excellent opportunities and seizing them.
The only Premier League team with an expected goals value higher than Chelsea’s 39.9 this season is Liverpool.
Fulham, on the other hand, is sixth in terms of expected goals against. On Saturday, we believe that a 2-0 victory at home is the most likely result.
Team news:
Trevoh Chalobah, Romeo Lavia, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Robert Sanchez, Reece James, and Lesley Ugochukwu are all out.
While he is at the African Cup of Nations, Nicolas Jackson is unavailable, and Christopher Nkunku will be evaluated during the build-up.
Better news: Carney Chukwuemeka, Ben Chilwell, and Benoit Badiashile might be healthy enough to play for the team.
The only injury concerns for Fulham are Adama Traore and Tim Ream, but Marco Silva may rotate and give the Carabao Cup priority.
At the African Cup of Nations are Alex Iwobi, Fode Ballo-Toure, and Calvin Bassey.
Important statistics:
Chelsea has won the last four meetings at the Bridge 2-0;
Chelsea has not lost in nine of their previous 10 games at Stamford Bridge;
Chelsea has kept a clean sheet in four of their previous five meetings;
Chelsea has the second-highest xG in the Premier League;
Fulham has lost seven of its away games; Fulham has not scored at Stamford Bridge since 2011.
