On Monday night, a West London derby unfolds as Fulham welcomes a struggling and high-spending Chelsea to Craven Cottage.
Chelsea, despite their huge expenditure and hiring Mauricio Pochettino—hoped to be their savior after a dismal last season—has not seen much success. They’ve secured a lone league win against a struggling Luton Town, and their defeats at home to Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa have been nothing short of disastrous. Though they did have a midweek Carabao Cup win against a soaring Brighton, it’s clear that it’s going to take time for the former Spurs manager’s strategies to truly take hold.
Meanwhile, Fulham is all set to challenge their more renowned rivals. They’ve already secured a point at Arsenal and booted Spurs out of the Carabao Cup. Despite a 5-1 thrashing at Manchester City, they bounced back, gliding past Norwich City in the Carabao Cup. Marco Silva’s squad is eager to add to their West End neighbors’ woes.
Looking at the odds, Chelsea is the favourite, just above even odds at bet365, while Fulham stands at 5/2.
In terms of recent matchups, Fulham won this fixture 2-1 at Craven Cottage last season and secured a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge, ending a seven-game winning streak for Chelsea.
For the players to watch, despite Nicolas Jackson’s essential goal in the midweek win over Brighton, he is suspended. Attention shifts to Raheem Sterling, who netted a double against Luton Town, and is pegged at 2/1 to score anytime.
