Chelsea vs Fulham

Premier League title hopefuls Chelsea and mid-table Fulham are set to lock horns at Stamford Bridge in an all-London showdown.

Chelsea couldn’t breach Everton’s impregnable backline in last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Goodison Park but did extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12 games (W9, D3). Despite Enzo Maresca’s constant title denials, the Blues come into their first Boxing Day fixture since 2021 in a buoyant mood, trailing table-topping Liverpool by four points. Since a 2-0 loss to Manchester City on the opening Premier League weekend, Maresca’s men have gone unbeaten in seven consecutive home league outings (W4, D3) despite only registering one clean sheet in that sequence. Further confidence comes from Chelsea’s decent-looking run of three successive victories immediately after Christmas. As if that’s not encouraging enough, they haven’t conceded a goal against Fulham in home league action since 2011! 

Indeed, since a 1-1 draw over 13 years ago, the Cottagers have failed to get on the scoresheet across their last six Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge (D2, L4). 

Interestingly, all those meetings featured under 2.5 total goals, highlighting the potential for a low-scoring encounter. That was the case in Fulham’s home clash against rock-bottom Southampton last weekend as they drew 0-0, making it four stalemates across their last five league matches (W1), including three in a row in the build-up to this cross-capital trip. Manager Marco Silva probably wouldn’t mind sharing the spoils with fellow West London rivals, considering Fulham’s disastrous all-time H2H record against Chelsea in league football since their first meeting in 1910 (W8, D23, L47).