Another London derby is on the horizon as Fulham hosts Chelsea later this evening at Craven Cottage.
Fulham played out a dramatic 2-2 draw against Liverpool in the last gameweek with Harrison Reed’s long-range screamer cancelling out Cody Gakpo’s supposed stoppage-time winner. Fulham are just three points off neighbors Chelsea, and a win could put them within contention for European spots.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are fresh off a 1-1 draw to Manchester City. In a game that could’ve gone away from them in the first half, the Blues snatched a draw late thanks to an Enzo Fernández goal to retain fifth in the league table. A win by a massive scoreline against Fulham could see them leapfrog Liverpool into fourth place as the Reds play Arsenal.
Team News
For Fulham, AFCON trio Chukwueze, Bassey, and Iwobi are still going strong with Nigeria, while Rodrigo Muniz has no chance of recovering from his thigh injury in time for the visit of Liverpool.
Kenny Tete (hamstring) and Joshua King (knee) are still missing too, but Ryan Sessegnon has recovered from a hamstring problem and is back in the squad.
The biggest news from Stamford Bridge is the appointment of Liam Rosenior as head coach. However, the new manager won’t walk out on the sidelines with the team, meaning U-21 coach Callum McFarlane will lead the Blues.
Caicedo will return to the starting XI after serving his accumulated yellow card suspension. Caicedo’s return could push captain Reece James back to a right-back role, if Malo Gusto has to once again fill in for Marc Cucurella (thigh), one of a few doubts alongside Robert Sanchez (muscle) and Wesley Fofana (illness), but all three were supposed to train on Tuesday.
Fulham Predicted XI
Leno; Cuenca, Andersen, Diop; Castagne, Berge, Lukic, Robinson; Wilson, Kevin; Jimenez
Chelsea Predicted XI
Jorgensen; James, Chalobah, Badiashile, Gusto; Caicedo, Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro, Neto; Delap
