Preview: Chelsea visit neighbours Fulham before Rosenior appointment
Both Fulham and Chelsea snatched late equalisers to bag precious points in the previous round of fixtures. There isn’t any reason either shouldn’t be looking to go one better when they meet at Craven Cottage in midweek.
By Alex Roberts
It’s been a mental week for Chelsea, even by their standards. Enzo Maresca walked out after what appeared to be some major differences with the board only for under-21s boss Calum McFarlane to come in and pull off a tactical masterclass against none other than Pep Guardiola.
Liverpool looked set to secure the win in Fulham’s last game, only for Harrison Reed to rocket in a 97th minute goal of the season contender. This West London derby should be pretty tasty.
Keeping Liam Rosenior’s seat warm
Liam Rosenior being appointed the next Chelsea manager is looking like nothing more than a formality, but he won’t be in charge for this one. McFarlane will get a second bite of the cherry in a must win game for the club.
McFarlane certainly deserves his flowers, though. This time last week, his pass didn’t even let him into Chelsea’s first team training complex, he turned up to the Etihad with a notebook that said ‘Academy Staff’ on the front.
He managed to galvanise a squad that by all accounts loved Maresca. Picking up a much-needed win over West London rivals Fulham would further cement his status as a cult hero for Chelsea, and who knows, give him some cred should another first team opportunity come knocking.
Harry Wilson is tearing it up
The now 28-year-old was a bit of a wonderkid at Liverpool, but after a bunch of loans, Wilson finally found his home at Fulham. Since joining back in 2021, he’s never been in the kind of form he is now.
Wilson scored the opener against his former club last time out, but his celebrations were muted as VAR checked to see if he was offside. He then RIGHTFULLY erupted once it was given, none of that ‘woke’ not celebrating against a former club nonsense.
It was the latest in a run of really fine performances from the Welshman. Wilson now has eight goal contributions in his last ten Premier League games, which is already his best return for the club in England’s top flight. Adding one or two against Chelsea would be sweet.
Team news
Chelsea will be happy to have Moisés Caicedo back following his suspension against Man City, it’ll be another five yellow cards (or a red) before another one, so we’ll probably be talking about it again in a month or so.
Robert Sánchez (muscle) is still a doubt for this one after being forced to pull out of the City game shorty before kick-off. It’s the same for Wesley Fofana, who missed the draw due to an illness.
Marc Cucurella is also a doubt with a hamstring injury, but McFarlane will definitely be without Roméo Lavia (thigh), Dário Essugo (thigh), and Levi Colwill (ACL).
Fulham are going to miss their Nigerian trio Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, and Samuel Chukwueze for a little longer following their 4-0 AFCON round of 16 win over Mozambique on Monday.
The Chelsea game will likely come too early for Kenny Tete (knock), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), and Josh King (knee), as they’re all expected to return over the next couple of weeks.
Rodrigo Muniz (hamstring) will definitely be out.
Prediction
Fulham are a good side, but they’re even better at home. There games are usually pretty tight, and with Chelsea’s current predicament, we’re going with a 1-1 draw.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.