Chelsea in danger of circling the drain at Fulham
Chelsea make the very short journey to face London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage in desperate need of a lift. Whilst the fixture calendar last week threw up two meetings with Manchester City in a row in different competitions, they were soundly beaten in both and those games represented the continuation of a trend of decline. Graham Potter's side have already rolled the dice several times in the transfer market, with the latest deal seeing Atlético Madrid's João Félix join on loan for the rest of the campaign. Will these acquisitions turn the tide, starting on Thursday night? Read our preview here.
Where there's a Will...
Marco Silva's charges beat Hull City in the FA Cup at the weekend in a fairly routine manner, even without leading goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrović, who remains suspended. Neeskens Kebano remains the only other absentee, so the head coach will otherwise have his strongest XI available as he seeks a fifth win in a row and a top six place. Vetern attacking midfielder Willian is of course no stranger to the visiting supporters and, at 34, is still very tough to play against. The Brazilian will work hard across the flank and left half-space to shut down attacks and orchestrate his own, which are likely to be more to be drilled into Carlos Vinícius' feet than his head.
Félix the cat
The visitors sit in a lowly 10th place and 19 points off Arsenal at the top of the tree. European qualification has to be the realistic aim now, an 'ambition' which is badly hampered by the injury list at the club, which can genuinely be described as a crisis. Nine first team players are out and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could be set for a hasty exit out of Stamford Bridge. Félix's registration is likely to have been rushed through in time for this encounter, where he'd likely to take the place of Hakim Ziyech on the right of the front three. Marc Cucurella, who has come in for some criticism lately, will have another difficult challenge on his hands with the tireless Bobby De Cordova-Reid looking to get beyond him at all times.
Betting tip
Casumo have odds of 3.40 for Fulham to break the streak of Chelsea winning against them with a victory of their own.
