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FC Fulham vs. Chelsea FC
Thomas Tuchel has been sacked. After the 0:1 defeat in the 1st group match of the Champions League, the Chelsea FC management decided to relieve the 49-year-old of his duties. The German won the Champions League with the Blues in the summer of 2021 against Manchester City. Last season, the Londoners finished a very strong 3rd in the Premier League under Tuchel. In order to play for the championship this season, Chelsea invested over 280 million euros last transfer summer. But Tuchel’s methods no longer seemed to work, so the new owners, led by Todd Boehly, decided on this drastic measure.
Last weekend, Chelsea still won one of the many London derbies against West Ham with 2-1. But the embarrassing defeat against Zagreb in the premier league apparently weighed too heavily for Tuchel to remain in office. On Thursday afternoon, the Blues’ management presented the 47-year-old Graham Potter as his successor. Potter did an excellent job at Brighton & Hove Albion, with which he definitely qualified for a job in this ranking. The first task for the Blues under Potter is the derby against Fulham.
What few people know is that Chelsea are at home in the London borough of Fulham. Even Stamford Bridge stands at Fulham Road. Fulham FC is also based in this part of the capital and is therefore geographically the Blues’ No. 1 rival. The Cottagers also played a London derby the previous week. The Lilywhites lost 2-1 at Tottenham. Whether the team of coach Marco Silva can score this time, you can read in our Fulham – Chelsea betting tip.
Fulham – Chelsea Info:
– Date & Time: 10/09/2022, 13:30.
– Venue: Craven Cottage, London
– Competition: Premier League, Matchday 7
– TV broadcast: Sky
Fulham Form & Balance Check
So far, Fulham FC have been the strongest of the three promoted sides this Premier League season. With eight points, the Cottagers have already collected four more than Nottingham Forest and one point more than AFC Bournemouth. In addition, manager Marco Silva’s team has only lost two games. Likewise, the Lilywhites have already won twice and drawn twice. Last week, Fulham lost 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur. However, the Cottagers won their last home game 2-1 against previously unbeaten Brighton & Hove Albion.
Three consecutive unbeaten
In fact, the promoted side started very strongly this season. Fulham drew 2-2 at home to Liverpool on matchday 1 and then drew again at Wolverhampton. On Matchday 3, the Cottagers experienced their first win of the season with a 3-2 win at home over Brentford. The Lilywhites also scored the most recent three-pointer over Brighton at home to Craven Cottage. Thus, Fulham have not yet lost a home game this season. Accordingly, the promoted team can justifiably hope to score against the Blues as well. However, the last time Fulham won this duel was 16 years ago.
Fulham facts & analysis
– Fulham are in 10th place in the table with 8 points.
– The Cottagers lost last with 1:2 at Tottenham.
– The goal difference stands at 9:9 after 6 games.
Chelsea form & balance check
For Chelsea, the game at Fulham will be their first competitive game without Thomas Tuchel since 26 January 2021. New owner Todd Boehly, who bought Chelsea from Russian Abramovich for several billion this summer, said it was the “right time to make the switch”. Boehly actually wanted to chase the championship together with Tuchel and spent a whole 282 million euros in the transfer period on new players for this dream.
Tuchel’s dismissal comes very suddenly, as there was still talk of a “new start to the season” after the victory over West Ham last weekend. But after the Blues blew their Premier League opener 1-0 in Zagreb, Boehly decided to continue working without Tuchel. In the Premier League, Chelsea took ten points from their first six games. However, if only the last three weeks are considered, Chelsea won two of the last three games under Tuchel. This makes the dismissal seem even more incomprehensible. In total, the Blues have won 60 games in 100 matches under the German manager.
Looking at the new manager Potter, it can be said that the ex-Seagulls coach collected 13 points from the first six games of the season with Brighton. The Seagulls are currently even in 3rd place in the table. Potter leaves the southern English club with a points average of 1.28 per game. In 134 games, Potter has won 43 matches with Brighton. Chelsea will pay a transfer fee of 17.4 million euros to the Seagulls. Brighton last won 5-2 against Leicester City under Potter.
No consistency & goals conceded
Looking at the table, Chelsea are now just five points behind league leaders Arsenal. But the Blues have only won three games. Above all, the lack of consistency has prevented Chelsea from collecting more points so far. The Londoners won at Everton at the start of the season, but only picked up one point from their two subsequent games. On Matchday 4, Chelsea won against Leicester but then lost at Southampton. The Blues responded to that defeat last week with a 2-1 win over West Ham. Another defeat followed in Zagreb on Wednesday. In addition, Chelsea have already conceded nine goals in the Premier League. Only once did keeper Mendy finish a game with nil. After the defeat in Zagreb on Tuesday, Tuchel summed up in disappointment: “Everything is missing at the moment”. They were his last public words on the status of his team.
Chelsea facts & analysis
– Chelsea are 6th in the table with 10 points.
– Thomas Tuchel was sacked on Wednesday.
– The Blues last lost 1-0 at Zagreb on Tuesday.
Predicted line-up – last update on 8 September 2022
Manager Marco Silva has so far relied on a 4-2-3-1 system with Mitrovic as the clear target player in the Cottagers’ game. The Serbian has already scored six times. Only Haaland has scored more goals than Fulham’s No. 9 so far this season.
The big question will be how Graham Potter will run the Blues out. Recently Chelsea have played a 3-4-3 and often a 3-5-2 system with a strike duo of Havertz and Sterling. At Brighton, Potter also operated in a 3-5-2 system. In terms of personnel, Ben Chilwell made his comeback against West Ham after a long injury lay-off. In addition, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could make his debut for the Blues in the Premier League.
Fulham – Chelsea direct comparison & Statistics
This London or Fulham derby will be played for the 53rd time on Saturday. In fact, Fulham hate this game against the Blues as the Cottagers have only won three times against Chelsea. For Chelsea, this derby is one of the easier ones. The Blues have already celebrated a full 33 derby victories over Fulham.
– Chelsea won the last 7 games in a row against Fulham.
– The Blues did not lose any of the last 20 duels with Fulham.
– Fulham last won this derby on 19 March 2006.
– Fulham have lost their last 4 home games against Chelsea in a row.
