Fulham vs Chelsea Tips: Blues backed for derby delight

Fulham vs Chelsea Tips, match analysis and the best odd for our expert prediction. Fulham are proving much harder to beat and can take something from Saturday’s visit of local rivals Chelsea, but would we bet on them winning?

“I’m tempted by the Fulham win price but a reminder… they’ve won just two of 16 Premier League games so far. Just to be on the safe side, we’re backing chelsea to win @1.57

Fulham vs Chelsea Tips: Fulham are hard to beat, but will they maintain their cool against an opponent like Chelsea?

Fulham remain in the bottom three but suddenly there seems hope that survival can be achieved. They’re just two points behind fourth-bottom Brighton but, notably, the Cottagers have two games in hand over the Seagulls.

From looking pushovers, Fulham are suddenly very hard to beat. Their only loss since November 22 came at Manchester City and even then that 2-0 defeat was hardly a disgrace. The problem is, Fulham are still struggling to win games. In fact, they’re now bona fide draw specialists having had stalemates in their last five Premier League outings.

That run includes draws against Liverpool (home) and Spurs (away) so they’re providing stern opposition to the top teams which bodes well for the visit of Chelsea.

The Blues have been tough opponents for them though. In fact, they’ve lost the last five Premier League games against their local rivals and not beaten them anywhere since March 2006. We feel the Cottagers will show their usual game spirit in this west London derby but ultimately be outgunned.

Last Fulham line-up: Areola, Tete, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Aina, Loftus-Cheek, Reed, Zambo, Decordova-Reid, Cavaleiro.

Club captain Tom Cairney has an issue with his knee and could be joined on the sidelines by Aleksandar Mitrovic, who had a slight problem in the FA Cup win at QPR but has returned to training.

The injury list looks shorter with Kenny Tete, Terence Kongolo and Josh Onomah back, although Mario Lemina is not expected to feature because of an unspecified problem.

Chelsea on miserable run of road defeats, so why are they preferred by the bookies to win this match?

From a Chelsea point of view, they haven’t lost to Fulham in all competitions in 19 games. But it’s recent form, not historical, that will be of most concern to Chelsea.

From looking like a side that could take their turn at the top of the Premier League’s ever-changing summit, the Blues are suddenly down in ninth place. Talk of Chelsea challenging for the title has faded away following a run of four defeats in six league games.

To be fair, though, the first three came in tough visits to Everton, Wolves and Arsenal, while losing at home to Manchester City is no disgrace in their current mood. In between, the Blues secured a convincing 3-0 success versus West Ham and drew 1-1 with Aston Villa. Saturday’s 4-0 triumph over Morecambe was a welcome fillip, especially with Mason Mount, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kai Havertz grabbing the goals.

Lampard has consistently spoken about how youthful his expensively-assembled squad is and that consistency will only come with experience. He reiterated: “We have a lot of young players with a lot of potential, who are coming through and of a young age.

“But the players at the top of the Premier League are scoring week on week and winning year on year, and at the ages of 27, 28, and 29 are very established. “They produce week on week, with big numbers. Players at that stage expect to be producing at those sorts of levels.

“So, for us there’s work to be done to get to the levels where hopefully we can jump to challenge those teams.”

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich isn’t known for his patience, though, so this is the kind of game where Lampard can ill-afford another slip-up. The stats show Fulham can be vulnerable early on in each half, showing a 1-7 deficit in the opening quarter of an hour of matches and 0-6 in the first 15 minutes after the break.

Last Chelsea line-up: Kepa, Rudiger, Zouma, Azpilicueta, Emerson, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Ziyech, Gilmour, Havertz, Werner.

Chelsea defenders Reece James and Andreas Christensen will return to contention. James is back in training after a thigh injury, while Christensen has shaken off a knee issue.

Midfielder N’Golo Kante is set to return to training after a hamstring problem but will still miss the match through suspension.