Having both come up short in the first legs of their EFL Cup semi-finals, Chelsea and Fulham seek a slice of redemption in Saturday lunchtime’s Premier League West London derby.
The Blues return to face a disgruntled Stamford Bridge faithful on the back of a humbling 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough, one day before Marco Silva‘s side fell victim to a trademark Liverpool comeback in a 2-1 defeat.
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Putting four unanswered goals past Preston North End in the FA Cup would seemingly be the perfect warm-up for a trip to another Championship outfit in Middlesbrough for Chelsea, who ventured to the Riverside at a time where the Boro squad was ravaged by injuries, ineligible players and international call-ups.
The odds were firmly stacked against Michael Carrick‘s men in the EFL Cup, but the former Manchester United midfielder unexpectedly got one over the West London giants yet again on Tuesday evening, where the highly-rated Hayden Hackney propelled Middlesbrough to a memorable triumph.
Whether Boro can make lightning strike twice at Stamford Bridge on January 23 remains to be seen, but before Chelsea can dream dreams of revenge and a potential trip to Wembley, a third successive Premier League win is the current priority on Pochettino’s agenda.
Despite ending a forgettable 2023 with back-to-back successes over Crystal Palace and Luton Town – prevailing by one goal on each occasion – Chelsea just cannot sneak into the single figures, as they remain 10th in the standings but with just a three-point disadvantage to make up to Brighton & Hove Albion in seventh.
After winning just three Premier League games at home from January 2023 to November 2023, Chelsea turned their Stamford Bridge fortunes around to take nine points from a possible nine on familiar territory in December, but not since July 2020 have they earned four successive top-flight wins at home.
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Similarly, progression to the FA Cup fourth round preceded Fulham’s opening EFL Cup semi-final encounter with Liverpool on Wednesday evening, and having overcome Rotherham United 1-0 in the former tournament, victory by the same scoreline was briefly on the cards at Anfield thanks to a surprise Willian opener.
The Cottagers’ defensive supremacy came to the fore in what remained of the first half, but Liverpool eventually levelled matters midway through the second half thanks to a deflected Curtis Jones strike, before substitutes Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo combined for the latter to fire home the decisive strike.
Despite failing to hold onto a one-goal lead against Liverpool for the second time in two months, Fulham will have at least 90 minutes at Craven Cottage on January 24 to turn the tie on its head, but Silva’s current task at hand is ending an abysmal stretch of away form in the Premier League.
The 13th-placed Cottagers deservedly got the better of Arsenal in their final fixture of 2023, but they have been beaten in each of their last four road matches in the top flight – shipping at least three goals on each occasion – and not since beating Everton on the opening weekend of the season have they come up trumps on rival turf.
Quickfire goals from Mykhaylo Mudryk and Armando Broja proved telling in Chelsea’s 2-0 win at Craven Cottage in October, and it has been 45 years since the Blues were last bested at home by Fulham, who prevailed 2-0 in a Division Two fixture in October 1979.
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As well as Africa Cup of Nations representative Nicolas Jackson, a plethora of stricken Chelsea players will watch on from the sidelines this weekend, including Wesley Fofana (knee), Marc Cucurella (ankle), Robert Sanchez (knee), Trevoh Chalobah (thigh), Lesley Ugochukwu (hamstring), Reece James (hamstring) and Romeo Lavia (thigh).
The Blues must also cope without the luckless Christopher Nkunku, who missed the loss to Boro with a fresh hip concern, while Ben Chilwell (hamstring), Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) and Benoit Badiashile (unspecified) have all resumed full training, and the former and latter are expected to be in the squad here.
Pochettino curiously opted against deploying Armando Broja at the tip of the attack at the Riverside, although the Argentine confirmed that he simply wanted to manage the Albanian’s workload, and it would therefore not be a shock to see him regain his spot in the XI here.
Meanwhile, Fulham welcomed veteran defender Tim Ream back to the matchday squad for their semi-final showdown with Liverpool, although the 36-year-old was only an unused substitute after recovering from a calf issue, and the visitors remain without Adama Traore (thigh) for the time being.
Harrison Reed also stayed down after taking a whack to the side at Anfield on Wednesday, and Silva also revealed that the midfielder was not feeling 100% before the game began, so a recall for Tom Cairney would not be a shock.
Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Fode Ballo-Toure are all unavailable on account of their AFCON call-ups, but most of Silva’s starters from Wednesday evening ought to be deployed from the first whistle again, unless jellied legs force the Fulham manager’s hand.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Gallagher, Fernandez; Sterling, Palmer, Mudryk; Broja
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Castagne, Adarabioyo, Diop, Robinson; Palhinha, Cairney; Decordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Jimenez
While Fulham could travel home from Anfield with their heads held high, the loss to Liverpool once again exposed the Cottagers’ defensive vulnerabilities on the road; only Sheffield United (25) have shipped more than the Cottagers’ 23 away from home so far.
Chelsea did not do themselves proud on the attacking front at the Riverside Stadium, but Pochettino’s men have rediscovered their knack for winning at home and should also benefit from an extra 24 hours worth of rest to enjoy derby delight on Saturday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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