Jacob Steinberg has kindly filed a very prompt match report, which means I can get away in good time for Question Time. Thanks for your company and emails; goodnight!
Post-match reaction
Willian
It’s a special night for us. I think we deserved the win. Chelsea are in a difficult situation but they have a really good team. It was a special night for me as well to play against them. [On his non-celebration] I have a big respect for the fans and the club, but now I play for Fulham and I have to do my best.
Tim Ream
The last couple of games we’ve had to show a bit more fight, a bit more grit. When we can show that side of our game and still play well with the ball, it bodes well for what we’re doing.[On Mitrovic’s absence] We’re not a one-trick pony, we have guys in the team who can put the ball away. We’re not looking at the table, but we find ourselves in a very good position.
Full time: Fulham 2-1 Chelsea
Fulham move above Liverpool and into sixth place after a famous win over Chelsea. They even did it without Aleksandar Mitrovic, whose replacement Carlos Vinicius capped a fine performance with the winning goal.
Chelsea were better than in recent weeks, with Joao Felix pretty impressive – until he was given a straight red card early in the second half for a dangerous tackle on Kenny Tete. Chelsea have now lost seven of their last ten games in all competitions, and five of the last nine in the league.
All the headlines will be about Chelsea, Graham Potter and Joao Felix, but this is also about Fulham. In their last two Premier League seasons they managed 28 and 26 points; this year they have 31 after 18 games. And now they have won four top-flight games in a row for the first time in almost 60 years.
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90+5 min Kepa springs from his line to beat Cairney to James’ low cross.
90+5 min Cucurella miscontrols the ball for a Fulham throw-in, prompting the lustiest of cheers around Craven Cottage.
90+3 min: Double substitution Dan James and Nathaniel Chalobah, brother of Trevoh, replace Carlos Vinicius and Andreas Pereira, who were both terrific and combined for what should be the winning goal.
90+2 min: Good save by Leno! Koulibaly drills a pass over the top for Havertz, who hits a good shot on the run from the edge of the area. Not for the first time tonight, Leno gets down smartly to save.
90+1 min Six minutes of added time.
90 min Another wicked cross from Pereira is well cleared by Koulibaly (I think), stretching towards his own goal.
89 min Fulham have beaten Chelsea only once since 1979, and that was a deadish rubber in March 2006 when Chelsea were cruising to another title.
88 min Cucurella’s cross is headed behind by Adarabioyo. Ziyech’s corner comes to nothing.
85 min Cucurella’s cross is poked just wide on the stretch by Azpilicueta, though the flag was up against Havertz earlier in the move. He tried an overhead kick and made the slightest contact before the ball landed at Azpilicueta’s right foot.
84 min Adarabioyo has been booked for something or other.
83 min: Fulham substitution Manor Solomon replaces Willian, who had a good game against his old club and scored the opening goal.
83 min Cucurella has a shot blocked by Tete, then Vinicius draws a foul from Koulibaly with some good hold-up play. He’s had such a good game.
82 min “I take it Fulham will be subject to an FA charge for their players surrounding the ref after Felix’s tackle?” says Tom Atkins. “Or does this only apply if it happens on free-to-air telly?”
For a fanbase who should be having the time of their post-2004 life, many Arsenal fans are remarkably angry right now.
81 min No that’s not right, it’s a 3-5-1 with Ziyech and Cucurella at wing-back. Azpilicueta has moved into te back three.
80 min: Quadruple substitution for Chelsea Marc Cucurella, Hakim Ziyech, Carney Chukwuemeka and Conor Gallagher replace Lewis Hall, Trevoh Chalobah, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount. Don’t ask me what that means tactically; please don’t do that to me. (An unbalanced 4-3-1-1, with no left-winger, I think.)
78 min Chelsea were playing well at 1-1 but there’s an air of fatalism now. Graham Potter is about to make a quadruple substitution.
77 min “The most bizarre thing about the Joao Felix red card,” says Admir Pajic, “is that he will miss games against Crystal Palace, Liverpool and...Fulham. I can’t recall if that has ever happened before.”
That’s a tremendous question, and one I’ll include in next week’s Knowledge if you don’t mind.
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76 min Mount, who has been in a foul mood lately, takes his out his frustration on Cairney and is booked.
75 min “Re your comment on 47 minutes about saving managers. Roy Hodgson at Liverpool,” says Espen Bommen. “Spectacularly out of his depth, spectacularly out of touch without reality. The performance against Everton was not the greatest you’ve ever seen and Northampton aren’t a great team. Mighty I think was the word he used. And nothing but contempt for Liverpool fans, especially the ones trying to save the club from financial disaster. I don’t necessarily think Potter shouldn’t be given time but I don’t agree that you shouldn’t fire a manager in his first season. Sometimes you just know things aren’t working.”
From what I’ve read, and from talking to mates who are Liverpool fans, I agree that that was one of the rare examples where sacking a manager early on is almost essential. Those were exceptional circumstances. Frank de Boer is probably another example, though I don’t enough to say that with certainty. I just don’t think Potter’s situation is comparable. That said, I was once such an entitled moron that I thought Sir Alex Ferguson should go, so I’m not really one to talk.
Vinicius has had a really good game, and now he has scored a Mitrovician goal. Pereira, on the right, rolled his studs over the ball and curled a beautiful ball towards the far post. Kepa came and got nowhere near it, and Vinicius pulled away from Chalobah to head into the empty net.
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GOAL! Fulham 2-1 Chelsea (Vinicius 73)
Carlos Vinicius heads Fulham in front!
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70 min “Slightly unfortunate moment in the TalkSport commentary when discussing Zakaria’s injury and not appreciating the occasional value of a pause between sentences,” says Tom Stratfod. “‘Always unfortunate to see, Jorginho about to come on.’ I’m clearly easily amused…”
68 min: Double substitution for Fulham The red card hasn’t changed the game at all, so it’s time for Marco Silva to bring on a couple of new players. Harry Wilson and Tom Cairney replace Harrison Reed and Bobby Decordova-Reid.
67 min “I distinctly remember putting in a request for a non-stimulating match!” writes Richard Hirst from his hospital bed.
66 min Chalobah commits a needless foul on Willian on the left. He hasn’t had a good game at all.
64 min: Good save by Leno! Chelsea have reacted superbly to going a man down. Mount, on the left, finds Havertz, who slows down on the edge of the area and then accelerates thrillingly between Adarabioyo and Ream. Leno comes out, Havertz tries to chip him, and the ball hits Leno in the face before deflecting behind for a corner.
64 min Here’s the tackle form Joao Felix that led to a straight red card.
That's a horror tackle 😳
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 12, 2023
João Félix is shown a straight red on his Chelsea debut... pic.twitter.com/jn3MKtoHwn
63 min “One sign of how well coached Fulham are is that the players rarely seem to be any doubt what to do,” says Kári Tulinius. “They may not be as individually skilled as their Chelsea counterparts, but they know where to expect their teammates to be, and the extra speed of interplay that allows makes a huge difference.”
Given the quality of coachingthese days, imagine how mindblowing it would be to spend a week watching someone like Marco Silva at work, never mind Pep Guardiola on Jurgen Klopp.
62 min A-hem: Hall is booked for a late tackle on Decordova-Reid.
61 min Hall’s dangerous cross is put behind for a corner by Adarabioyo. Amid the ruins, I really think Chelsea have found a player.
58 min Replays confirm it was a wretched challenge, with Joao Felix’s studs going into Tete’s shin, and he can have no complains. It wasn’t that forceful, so I’m slightly reluctant to call it a leg-breaker*, and I suspect it was overzealous rather than malicious*, but it was still a very dangerous tackle.
* although I’d like to see it again to be sure
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JOAO FELIX IS SENT OFF!
57 min Oh my days. Felix goes in late and high on Tete, and after much consideration – and encouragement from the Fulham players – David Coote shows a straight red!
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56 min: Chelsea substitution Jorginho replaces Zakaria, and Chelsea are once again a centre-back short of a full XI of injured senior players.
Mendy; James, Fofana, Injured Centre-Back, Chilwell; Loftus-Cheek, Kante, Zakaia; Sterling, Broja, Pulisic.
55 min It’s a problem with his left leg, his knee I think, which he seemed to jar while kicking the ball away. He has his shirt over his face, and Jorginho is getting very detailed tactical instructions from Graham Potter.
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55 min Zakaria is down and in a fair bit of pain. The physios are signalling that he needs to come off.
52 min: Chance for Pereira Robinson belts the ball down the left wing to find Pereira, who runs off Chalobah and shoots wide of the near post from a tight angle. It must have taken a deflection because Fulham have a corner.
50 min Mount and Havertz combine to find Joao Felix, who whistles a first-time shot from about 25 yards. It’s straight at Leno, who pats it down and grabs the ball at the second attempt.
It hasn’t always worked, but at times the front three of Joao Felix, Havertz and Mount have linked up really nicely.
49 min I hadn’t realised that Hall was partially at fault for Fulham’s goal – he tried to run the ball to safety and lost it to Decordova-Reid, whose cross eventually fell to Willian – but he made up for it with the run that led to Mount’s free-kick. He’ll make mistakes, like all young players, but to my untrained eye he looks a serious prospect.
Mount surprised everyone, not least Leno, by whipping the free-kick towards goal from a very tight angle. It hit the post and rebounded to Koulibaly, who forced it over the line from close range. Leno did save it but he was well behind the line. That was a brilliant free-kick from Mount, and we shouldn’t forget Hall’s point in the goal either.
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GOAL! Fulham 1-1 Chelsea (Koulibaly 47)
Chelsea are level!
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47 min Hall zig-zags superbly between Decordova-Reid and Tete before being brought down just outside the area on the left.
47 min “Well… the sad thing is that it’s been better than recent efforts from Chelsea but WAY below what we’d expect,” says Lee Madden. “I really want to give Potter time but at what point do we say that he’s out of his depth? Am I being too harsh? I’ve seen many different versions of Chelsea over the years but Potter’s Chelsea lack leadership, authority, attacking inventiveness and solidity. I’m beginning to wonder if, actually, he just can’t cut it at this level, which is crazy given how short a time he’s been in charge.”
That may well be the case, but I just think it’s way too early to draw such conclusions, especially as it’s not his team and half his best players are injured. Barring truly exceptional circumstances, and I don’t think these qualify at all, I can’t really get my head round a manager being sacked inside a year, never mind six months.
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46 min Peep peep! Chelsea begin the second half.
Half-time reading
Nowt to do with tonight’s game, but this is really good.
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“The arrival of Newcastle into the ‘top tier’, along with Tottenham seeming a more permanent member and Arsenal jumping back into the title race, feels like a tipping point where the big spending squads (outside of City) can’t count on the Champions League any more,” says Zach Neeley. “I wonder if only half of Newcastle/Tottenham/Arsenal/Chelsea/Liverpool/Manchester United making the CL each year will lead to a freakout with even faster firings or even bigger spending, or if those teams can be happy enough to make it about half the time and get enough money just to be in the Premier League along with being funded by money-no-object operations.”
That’s a very good point, and it’ll be interesting to see how it pans out, at least until the 2027-28 season, when Uefa award the Premier League 12 places in the new, improved, 975 -game Champions League.
Half time: Fulham 1-0 Chelsea
It is happening. Again. Chelsea started brightly, the new signing Joao Felix in particular, but Fulham grew impressively into the game and took the lead through Willian’s deflected shot. Chelsea haven’t been bad – they’ve had 14 attempts at goal for a start – but they could be heading for a seventh defeat in 10 games.
The dream start for Fulham! ⚫️⚪️
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 12, 2023
Willian strikes back against his former club... pic.twitter.com/WQYerW8NP3
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45+1 min Three minutes of added time.
45+1 min “For anyone hoping for the return of Jose Mouribho to the PL, be careful what you wish for,” says Mary Waltz. “I recently watched the Roma v Bologna fixture. An early Roma goal followed by the most amazingly dull match with Roma killing the game for 75 minutes, Classic Jose, classic boredom.”
So you’re saying it was another Mourinho masterclass?
45 min Vinicius has done very well as a stand-in for Mitrovic. He’s up against three centre-backs but his physicality has caused them all problems, Chalobah in particular.
44 min Tete’s deep cross is headed back across goal by Vinicius. Kepa almost makes a Horlicks of what looks a routine save, clawing the ball out in front of goal, but Thiago rescues him by booting it clear.
42 min This isn’t news, but Fulham really are a terrific side. On paper their team doesn’t look that great, but they play with so much confidence and purpose in attack.
41 min “To my eye Trevoh Chalobah has been appallingly bad today,” writes Glenn Kuly, “but I remember how shaky Antonio Rüdiger (and for that matter Andreas Christensen) used to look before they got some substantial playing time next to Thiago Silva. Hoping some of the latter’s serenity under pressure similarly rubs off on the youngster (which can’t happen any too soon for the Blues).”
I was just thinking the same. He looked really good last season, certainly in the games I saw, but he’s been a bag of nerves tonight.
40 min: Good save by Leno! A long ball forward bounces awkwardly for Adarabioyo, which allows Havertz to nick the ball just inside the area. He turns and lays it off to Joao Felix, who takes a touch and cracks a low shot across goal that is well saved by Leno, plunging to his right. That’s his best save so far.
38 min Havertz moves elegantly away from Robinson on the right. His cross is blocked at the near post by Ream, who then charges towards the loose ball to deflect Azpilicueta’s follow-up shot over the bar.
36 min Chalobah is booked for a studs-up tackle on Palhinha. The Fulham players wanted a red card, but I think a yellow is just about right. His studs were showing but he was low enough for it count as reckless rather than dangerous.
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34 min: Good save by Leno! Azpilicueta’s cross is headed up in the air and drops towards Hall, arriving late in the box. He bobbles a shot on the run that deflects off Adarabioyo and is smartly saved to his right by Leno.
33 min Kovacic’s cross bounces over the leaping Joao Felix, unmarked eight yards out, but again he was offside so it wouldn’t have counted.
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32 min A wicked inswinging free-kick from Pereira causes chaos in the Chelsea are. Eventually Thiago stabs the ball behind, taking it off the toe of a Fulham player (Vincius I think), and then the flag goes up for offside anyway.
31 min If it stays like that Fulham will be four points off a Champions League place. Yeah they’ve played more games than the teams above them, but it’s still a remarkable achievement.
30 min “If Chelsea pull the trigger on Potter, they should be forced to re-re-hire Mourinho,” says Matt Dony. “A) As punishment for ignoring all the ‘long-term plan’ talk, and B) For the entertainment of the rest of the league. (I wouldn’t want him anywhere near a club I care about, but the league is inherently a better place when Jose’s around.)”
28 min: Chance for Joao Felix! Mount wins the ball high up the field, and Kovacic sweeps it forward to Joao Felix. He twists away from Adarabioyo, onto his left foot, but shoots straight at Leno from 15 yards.
27 min
Willian isn’t celebrating, but almost everyone else in Craven Cottage is going mad. Decordova-Reid’s cross was headed across the area by Chalobah and collected by Willian. He cut inside, dummied Azpilicueta a couple of times and hit a low drive that was going straight at Kepa – until it deflected off Chalobah and flew into the corner.
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GOAL! Fulham 1-0 Chelsea (Willian 25)
Willian scores against his old club!
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23 min: Decordova-Reid hits the bar! Leno’s long goalkick was misjudged by Chalobah, who headed it straight to Vinicus. He played in Decordova-Reid to his right, and he rattled a first-time drive from 15 yards that thumped off the bar. Kepa didn’t move.
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21 min Fulham take a short corner on the right. Willian fires the ball back to Reed, who pings a sweet first-time shot from 25 yards that is blocked by one of the many Chelsea bodies near the penalty spot.
21 min “Forgive my ignorance but is Thursday night now a permanent fixture date for EPL matches?” says Paulo Biriani. “If so, are you always the fixture MBMer?”
No and hopefully, therefore, no. This game was rearranged after the death of the Queen in September. Having said that, I see Man City are playing Spurs a week tonight. And you won’t believe who’s on the rota.
19 min Chelsea are playing pretty well here, though I suppose the big test will come if they go behind again. Felix and Hall look bright on the left, and Kovacic has been excellent in midfield.
18 min Mount’s outswinging corner is headed over by the backpedalling Thiago Silva. A half chance.
17 min “The internet being what it is these days, looking at any social media platform can be dangerous when assessing how fans actually feel about the club,” says Justin Madson. “The hyper-unrealistic expectations by the loudest mouths tend to be incorrectly perceived and presented as such by the media as a wholly accurate depiction of how the general fanbase feels. Particularly when, as is the case with Potter, the media spends more time talking about how under pressure he is than anyone else does. I was thoroughly puzzled when certain outlets started running ‘he’s under pressure’ articles regularly in the middle of the World Cup. From a totally calm and not at all worried Chelsea fan in Boehly-land.”
I completely agree with that, and it’s a huge problem in all journalism, not just sport; the media have basically let a gobby minority take over the world, and look how that’s turned out. But the chants from the away end on Sunday suggested it’s not just Twitter’s finest who are unhappy with Potter. I think the whole thing is ridiculous, particularly given all the talk of long-term planning when he took the job.
16 min: No penalty Hmm, Zakaria’s a bit fortunate there. I suppose the argument is that it wasn’t a clear and obvious error from David Coote, but had it been given on the field it wouldn’t have been overturned.
16 min Vinicius goes down just inside the area after a clumsy and unnecessarsy tackle from Zakaria. David Coote says no penalty, but it’s being checked by VAR.
14 min Joao Felix misses a decent chance, volleying Mount’s cross wide from eight yards after going at it with the wrong foot, but he was offside.
14 min And now Pereira is booked for fouling Felix, who got himself between the man and the ball and went down as soon as there was contact. I’m not saying he dived; it was clever play.
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11 min Zakaria is a little fortunate to avoid a yellow card for a lunge at Pereira.
10 min The resulting free-kick is headed away to Kovacic, whose long-range volley hits his own player. Chelsea keep the ball alive and Kovacic feeds it out to Joao Felix, who drives wide of the near post from the left side of the area. A half chance at best.
10 min That yellow card means Robinson will miss Fulham’s next league game: Newcastle away on Sunday.
9 min Robinson is booked for a foul on Joao Felix, who has looked the part in his first few minutes as a Chelsea player.
8 min Robinson surges down the left and hammers a low cross into Vinicius, 12 yards out. He turns smartly, despite the presence of Thiago, and cracks a shot on the turn that goes not far wide of the far post. Decent effort, that.
8 min Another inswinger from Pereira, another header away from Thiago, this time for a throw-in.
7 min Robinson’s cross hits Chalobah and go behind for a corner. Andreas Pereira, who is having a fine season, wanders across to take it. His inswinger is headed behind for another corner by Thiago.
6 min Joao Felix looks sparky and full of confidence. I know his performance level fluctuates a fair bit, but at his best he’s a delight. His skill and swagger might be just what Chelsea need.
4 min “First of all, Potter was involved in a great project at Brighton and should not have left until the season finished,” says Jeff Sachs. “This is the price for being hasty. And he is smart enough to have known what he was getting into...”
Ah come on. Even thogh I think Potter should have stayed at Brighton, I know full well that if I was in his position, I would have struggled to resist an offer from Chelsea. I suspect that applies to 99.94 per cent of us. Also, it’s not over yet.
2 min: Chances plural for Chelsea! Joao Felix almost creates a goal inside two minutes. He moseyed over to the right wing, nutmegged Ream majestically and picked out Havertz near the penalty spot with a precise low cross. Havertz’s right-foot shot was blocked, and Hall’s slightly tame follow up was kicked away by Leno. They were both decent chances, Hall’s in particular.
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2 min Cesar Azpilicueta is playing at right wing-back, and Chelsea’s attacking shape is as expected – Havertz up front with Joao Felix and Mount buzzing behind him.
1 min Peep peep! Fulham kick off from right to left as we watch.
This is Chelsea’s first league game since the sad death of the adorable Gianluca Vialli, and the players have gathered round the centre circle to pay tribute with a minute’s applause. Finding someone with a bad word to say about Vialli is needle/haystack territory.
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“Thanks for the concern; a strep infection which is being treated with heavy duty antibiotics, and yes, I’m much better,” says Richard Hirst. “On football matters,I look at the strength of Chelsea’s bench and I can’t help feel that sympathy for their injury ‘predicament’ is a bit over the top. Not the weakest bench I’ve ever seen.”
Well, they have just bought four players, which helps, but they are still missing some irreplaceables. I know it was only an hour at home to Bournemouth, but they looked a different team going forward when Reece James played. Very glad to hear you’re okay; strep sounds thoroughly unpleasant.
“Setting aside that Graham Potter surely knew what he was getting himself into, him saying that managing Chelsea is the hardest job in football is brilliant,” says Matt Burtz. “Succeed, and you’re automatically the best manager in the world. Fail, and you’re expected to because it’s impossible to succeed. It’s win win!”
I didn’t like that comment. Potter is normally so considered and amiable and, though that hasn’t really changed, there have been a few little signs that it’s getting to him. I felt strongly at the time that he should wait for Arsenal or Spurs rather than go to Chelsea, because there are so many risks with that club and it was likely to be his only big job unless he succeeded.
Potter may have had assurances from Todd Boehly, but that’s only part of the story – as we’re seeing now, the media and a fanbase conditioned to instant gratification can make life very uncomfortable. I really hope it works out but I’m losing faith.
Relationship status: it’s complicated
“We are probably lucky QPR aren’t in the PL, or Chelsea might well be fourth in the West London League,” says Julian Menz. “As for the teams: are you sure it’s Azpilicueta and not Chalobah at right wing-back?”
I’m never sure about anything, least of all a Graham Potter formation, but that’s how I expect them to line up. This graphic supports that idea, though I’ve noticed a few clubs have started peddling tactical disinformation on their team graphics. What is the world coming to.
Your Blues tonight! 👊@ParimatchGlobal | #FulChe pic.twitter.com/92r6LNSG8M
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 12, 2023
GP on JF
"The team needs a lift."
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 12, 2023
"He's confident and just wants to play football!"
Graham Potter on his decision to bring João Félix straight into the side and how he's dealt with a tough week at Chelsea... pic.twitter.com/bIwPOlt05g
“Lying in a hospital room in SW France with the MBM to keep me company,” says our resident Fulham fan Richard Hirst. “I was hoping for three points to stimulate further improvement, but without Mitro I am trepidatious, and right now would bite your hand off for a non-stimulating 0-0. Still, I am sure I can rely on Dr Rob for sympathetic company.”
Oof, sorry to hear that. Are you okay?
Whether it’s fair or not (it’s not), Graham Potter is under increasing external pressure at Chelsea. If they lose tonight, the noise might become insufferable.
transition
(trænzɪʃən )
1. VARIABLE NOUN
Transition is the process in which something changes from one state to another.
Team news: Joao Felix starts
Marco Silva makes one enforced change to the Fulham team that won their last Premier League game at Leicester. Carlos Vinicius replaces the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic up front.
Chelsea’s big loan signing Joao Felix goes straight into the starting line-up, and, with Graham Potter switching to a back three, the impressive teenager Lewis Hall is preferred to Marc Cucurella at left wing-back.
Overall there are four changes from Chelsea’s previous league game, the defeat at home to Manchester City a week ago. Hall, Joao Felix, Trevoh Chalobah and Mason Mount replace Cucurella Hakim Ziyech and the injured pair of Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Tete, Adarabioyo, Ream, Robinson; Reed, Palhinha; Decordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Vinicius.
Substitutes: Rodak, Kurzawa, Diop, Chalboah, Harris, Cairney, Wilson, James, Solomon.
Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Kepa; Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Koulibaly; Azpilicueta, Zakaria, Kovacic, Hall; Mount, Joao Felix; Havertz.
Substitutes: Bettinelli, Cucurella, Badiashile, Chukwuemeka, Jorginho, Gallagher, Ziyech, Aubameyang, Fofana.
Referee David Coote.
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Preamble
What do we have here then? A west London derby in which Fulham are the pre-eminent team in SW6, that’s what. They begin tonight’s game in seventh, three places and three points ahead of Chelsea, who are in danger of winning the transfer window and losing everything else. The last time Fulham started a league game against Chelsea in a higher position was 2 April 1983*, a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage in the old Division Two.
All the pre-match talk has been, a little tediously, about whether Graham Potter should be sacked for his inability to build Rome in half an hour. Marco Silva knows all about P45s, having been sacked by Sporting Lisbon, Watford and Everton, but there was always a lot to like about his management and he has quietly done a spectacular job at Craven Cottage.
Fulham won the Championship in his first season, scoring 106 goals in the process, and have held their own against allcomers in the Premier League. Their late defeats at Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United were all unfortunate, and the only time they took a pasting was when they had 10 men for most of a 4-1 defeat at home to Newcastle. They have won all four games since Qatar, whereas Chelsea have lost seven of the last nine and are without almost an entire team of senior players.
I was going to say that, even without the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham will be provide a stiff test for Chelsea. But given the league positions and recent form, we should probably be assessing that the other way round.
Kick off 8pm.
* I think. Look, I checked it once and I might have made a mistake but I don’t have time to go back over 40 years of league tables again, okay. This is a blog, your honour, not a judicial review!
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