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Match preview
Can Chelsea start to climb the table, as they seek to salvage their season?
Right now, the Blues are tenth in the Premier League, ten points below Manchester United in fourth, having won just two of their last 11.
Last time out, almost a fortnight ago, Graham Potter’s team lacked ideas, as they played out a very low-quality goalless draw with fellow-strugglers Liverpool at Anfield.
Since then, they’ve gone crazy in the January transfer market, taking their total spend under Todd Boehly to over £650 million in just six months.
With 18 league games remaining this season, Potter now has 34 senior players at his disposal, needing to find the right formulae and fast.
Visitors Fulham haven’t won at Stamford Bridge in 20 visits, dating back to 1979, but did beat their West London neighbours just 22 days ago.
At the time, that made it four successive victories for the Cottagers, although they’ve lost back-to-back games since then, beaten by Newcastle and Tottenham, both 1-0.
Nevertheless, Marco Silva’s side kick off three places and two points above Chelsea, something we all saw coming back in August….. right?
Can Chelsea kick-start their season, or will Fulham complete an unlikely double over their local rivals?
Chelsea team news
Édouard Mendy, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Denis Zakaria, N’Golo Kanté, Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja all remain sidelined due to injury.
Meanwhile, João Félix will serve the final match of his three-match ban after being sent off at Craven Cottage last month.
Midfielder Enzo Fernández, who’s now the most-expensive footballer in British history, is unlikely to start, having only arrived in London on Thursday.
Mykhaylo Mudryk, who came off the bench at Anfield, is likely to make his full-debut, while there could also be first appearances for Noni Madueke and Malo Gusto.
Winger Hakim Ziyech will have to be reintegrated into the squad, after his deadline day loan to PSG fell through.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; Gusto, Thiago Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella; Kovačić, Gallagher, Mount; Madueke, Mudryk, Havertz.
Fulham team news
Marco Silva made seven changes for last weekend’s FA Cup draw with Sunderland, which means they’ll face a replay at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday.
Here though, he’s likely to largely revert to the team that faced Tottenham in their most-recent Premier League fixture.
Willian, who scored against Chelsea three weeks ago, will feature at Stamford Bridge against them for the first time since leaving.
Right-back Cédric arrived from Arsenal on Tuesday, so it’ll be interesting to see if he’s thrown straight in, or if Kenny Tete keeps his place.
The Cottagers other deadline day arrival was midfielder Saša Lukić, who’s unlikely to start this one.
Aleksandar Mitrović has scored 11 goals this season, but has never found the net in five appearances against Chelsea.
Predicted XI (4-5-1): Leno; Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed, Pereira, Decordova-Reid, Willian; Mitrović.
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Chelsea vs Fulham: Head to head statistics
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