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Fulham and Chelsea braced for close-fought West London derby

Fulham vs Chelsea - 12/01/2023

Fulham and Chelsea braced for close-fought West London derby
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We have one Premier League game to enjoy on Thursday, with West London rivals Fulham and Chelsea going head-to-head at Craven Cottage.

Believe it or not, seventh-place Fulham lead tenth-place Chelsea by three points in the table – although the Blues have a game in hand.

The Cottagers have exceeded all expectations after gaining promotion from the Championship, while Chelsea have flattered to deceive this season. So, who will come out on top on Thursday?

Fulham head into Thursday’s clash on the back of a 2-0 victory over Hull City in the FA Cup, thanks to goals from Layvin Kurzawa and Daniel James.

That means Marco Silva’s side are enjoying a four-game winning streak across all competitions, having sealed three straight Premier League victories since the World Cup.

After beating Crystal Palace 3-0 on Boxing Day, the Cottagers beat Southampton 2-1 on New Year’s Eve before defeating Leicester City 1-0.

Having kept three clean sheets in their previous four outings, Fulham will fancy their chances of avoiding defeat against off-form Chelsea.

On Sunday, the Blues were thrashed 4-0 by Manchester city in the FA Cup – managing a solitary shot on target at the Etihad Stadium.

Graham Potter’s side have now lost six of their last nine competitive games, picking up two wins and one draw along the way.

Worse still, Chelsea have only managed to win one of their previous eight Premier League encounters – registering three draws and four losses in the process.

Although the Stamford Bridge outfit have the fourth-best defensive record in the division, 11 teams have scored more goals this term.

Head-to-head: Not only have Chelsea won each of their last seven meetings with Fulham, but they have also avoided defeat in each of their previous 21 meetings.

Given that ten of the past 13 matches between Fulham and Chelsea have produced under 2.5 goals, Thursday’s clash is expected to be a low-scoring affair.

Team news: Fulham will be without the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic on Thursday, while Shane Duffy and Neeskens Kebano are also set to absent for the hosts.

Meanwhile, Chelsea could be without as many as ten first-team players due to injury – including Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic, Ben Chilwell, Reece James and N’Golo Kante.

When you couple Fulham’s impressive form with injury-hit Chelsea’s poor recent run, all the signs point towards a tough game for the visitors on Thursday.

Forebet predicts that Fulham will frustrate Chelsea at Craven Cottage, with the two sides likely to play out a low-scoring draw.

Home team
Away team
Probability %
1X2
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
EPL
353629
X
1 - 1
2.29
10°
1.75
4.50 3.80 1.75 no no no
FT
2 - 1(1 - 0)
-
- - -
Premier League
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Arsenal 83 36 26 5 5 60
2
Manchester City 82 35 25 7 3 54
3
Liverpool 75 35 22 9 4 41
4
Aston Villa 67 36 20 7 9 20
5
Tottenham 60 34 18 6 10 13
6
Newcastle United 56 35 17 5 13 22
7
Chelsea 54 35 15 9 11 11
8
Manchester United 54 34 16 6 12 1
9
West Ham 49 36 13 10 13 -14
10
Bournemouth 48 36 13 9 14 -11
11
Brighton 47 35 12 11 12 -4
12
Wolverhampton 46 36 13 7 16 -11
13
Fulham 44 36 12 8 16 -4
14
Crystal Palace 40 35 10 10 15 -12
15
Everton 37 36 12 9 15 -11
16
Brentford 36 36 9 9 18 -8
17
Nottingham Forest 29 36 8 9 19 -18
18
Luton Town 26 36 6 8 22 -29
19
Burnley 24 36 5 9 22 -35
20
Sheffield United 16 36 3 7 26 -65

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