Chelsea host Fulham in a lunch-time start at Stamford Bridge in the first full round of Premier League matches in 2024. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton preview Sunday's west London derby...
Despite each being on the receiving end in midweek in the Carabao Cup, postcode neighbours Chelsea and Fulham could still meet in a first-ever west London derby cup final at Wembley on 25 May.
The second legs of those semi-final ties, both in west London in a week-and-a-half, mean each club has a slightly shorter mid-season player break than most top-flight rivals.
Undefeated at Stamford Bridge since October, the Blues might feel ready to look up the league table despite Tuesday’s setback. Only Manchester City and West Ham (10) have collected more points from their past four league matches than Chelsea, who recorded three victories as the year drew to a close. We are 10 points better off in results corresponding to last season’s fixtures.
Fulham’s away record, including no win in nine, is the third-worst in the top flight, just ahead of Newcastle United and Sheffield United. Only a quarter of their points have been gained on the road and they are on a run of four straight away league losses, conceding two or more in each.
The Blues are five away from a total of 4,000 home league goals scored since we were founded in 1905.
Team news
Recovering defensive duo Benoit Badiashile and Ben Chilwell could boost Mauricio Pochettino’s options ahead of this neighbourly lunch-time clash. Nicolas Jackson is away at the Africa Cup of Nations at least until Senegal’s last group stage game on 23 January, though, and several others remain ruled out.
The Blues are looking for a swift return to winning ways in this derby after a dominant but wayward semi-final showing at Middlesbrough.
Tuesday’s substitutes Mykhailo Murdyk and Armando Broja both scored inside 20 minutes at Craven Cottage back in October. The Blues could aim to exploit space behind the visitors’ attacking full-backs and pounce on any errors passing out from the back, as was the case in that 2-0 win three months ago.
Chelsea are the only side never to have been trailing at half-time in the Premier League this season. The Blues have opened the scoring in half our home games this season, claiming all three points in four of them, but are yet to win at the Bridge when the opposition net first.
Last time out in the league, the 3-2 win at Luton, Cole Palmer became only our fifth player to reach double figures (12) for goal involvement in a single Premier League campaign while aged 21 or under, after Arjen Robben (16), Christian Pulisic (13), Mason Mount (12) and Eden Hazard (10).
Goal contributions 2023/24 (all competitions)
Goals | Assists | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
Cole Palmer | 8 | 7 | 15 |
Raheem Sterling | 7 | 4 | 11 |
Nicolas Jackson | 8 | 2 | 10 |
Mykhailo Mudryk | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Enzo Fernandez | 4 | 4 | |
Conor Gallagher | 4 | 4 | |
Malo Gusto | 4 | 4 | |
Noni Madueke | 3 | 3 | |
Armando Broja | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Thiago Silva | 2 | 2 | |
Levi Colwill | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Benoit Badiashile | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Carney Chukwuemeka | 1 | 1 | |
Axel Disasi | 1 | 1 | |
Christopher Nkunku | 1 | 1 | |
Ben Chilwell | 1 | 1 | |
Reece James | 1 | 1 |
Opposition scout – Fulham
The Africa Cup of Nations has deprived Fulham of three members of the squad that beat Arsenal in their last league outing, in stalwart centre-back Calvin Bassey, midfield schemer Alex Iwobi and left-back Fode Ballo-Toure. Adama Traore remains sidelined but Tim Ream returned at Anfield in midweek. Wednesday’s cup defeat means the Cottagers have had one day fewer to recover and prepare.
The attacking strength in Marco Silva’s disciplined 4-3-3 lies down the flanks, where former Blue Willian and Bobby Cordova-Reid prowl, supported by dynamic left-back Antonee Robinson. Triggered pressing by speedy Harrison Reed helps gain possession high upfield and they attempt the highest ratio of shots from outside the box in the top flight.
Creative midfielder Joao Palhinha was absent for the Blues’ 2-0 win at the Cottage, but looked back to his best as the Whites’ edged Arsenal 2-1 on New Year’s Eve. His aggressive partner Andreas Pereira earned the wrath of traveling Chelsea fans in the last SW6 derby with a string of strong tackles.
Leading scorer Raul Jimenez’s leveler in that derby was his fourth in as many league games, though each was scored on home soil. His sole away strike came in a 3-1 loss at Villa in November and, on the road, the Cottagers have been outscored in every 15-minute period except the opening quarter-of-an-hour.
While Chelsea are the only top-flight team not to concede a shot straight after a defender has been dribbled past, the Whites are out clear as the biggest victims, with 10 such instances. Only three Premier League clubs have conceded more goals overall.
Westworld
Fulham’s 10 per cent success rate against Chelsea – eight wins in 77 meetings – is the lowest recorded by one side against another (with a minimum of 50 games) in English league history.
A convincing 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture at Craven Cottage in October made it 100 Premier League points from west London derby matches for Chelsea. However, the Blues were beaten by Brentford at the Bridge later that month.
Fulham won their two west London derbies at home last season, but have lost both in 2023/24, going down 3-0 to Brentford and 2-0 to Chelsea at the Cottage.
Premier League west London derbies
M | W | D | L | GD | PPM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brentford | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | +9 | 2.00 |
Chelsea | 52 | 28 | 16 | 8 | +34 | 1.92 |
QPR | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | -16 | 0.89 |
Fulham | 40 | 6 | 11 | 23 | -27 | 0.73 |
Games of two halves
Chelsea would be sixth in the table behind Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Aston Villa and Liverpool had Premier League matches ended at the half-time break this season.
However, were second-half performances alone to count, the Blues would be 16th, above only Brentford, Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United. We have scored an identical number of goals either side of half-time, but conceded more than twice as many after the break.
Chelsea’s contrasting halves in the Premier League
W | D | L | F | A | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First half | 5 | 15 | 17 | 10 | |
Second half | 5 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 21 |
Left and right dynamite
The Blues have scored 34 league goals this term: 15 with the right foot, 14 the right, plus four headers. Two left-footers, Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer, scored with their less-favoured boot during the win at Luton Town to swing the balance back in favour of the more common right peg.
Home comforts
The next two games at Stamford Bridge will put current unbeaten runs on the line. Chelsea have hosted Fulham 20 times without defeat in all competitions and Middlesbrough on 21 occasions. Bobby Robson, Johnny Haynes, George Cohen and Alan Mullery were in the Fulham side when they recorded their only top-flight win on the Fulham Road in March 1964.
The only clubs to have endured more winless trips to the Bridge are Hull City with 23 and Everton with 33 (cup penalty shoot-outs counting as a draw). The long run against the Toffees stretches back to 1990 and is our all-time club record.
