Chelsea’s new manager Liam Roney is expected to be in attendance but will not be leading the team just yet as the Blues travel to Craven Cottage to face friendly rivals Fulham. It will be interim manager Callum McFarlane, rather than Ronnie Orr, calling the shots, and the hope is that he can be as effective as he was at the weekend, when he drew 1-1 away at Manchester City.
Alas, the only team to really benefit from this draw is Arsenal, who are now six points clear at the top of the table, just halfway through the season.
advertise
For Chelsea, they have won just one of their past eight Premier League games and collected just eight points from 24 games. Somehow we’re still in fifth place but we have to start picking up points if we want to keep our Champions League place before the end of the season.
Date/Time: Wednesday, January 7, 19:30 GMT; 2:30 pm EST; 1 am IST (next day)
Place: Craven Cottage, SW6
referee: Peter Banks (on the pitch); John Brooks (VAR)
forecast: Partly sunny and breezy; sadly no more snow
On TV: Sky Sports Football (UK); None (US); Star Sports Select HD2 (India); None (NGA); Elsewhere
Streaming media: Sky Go (UK); Peacock (US); JioHotstar (India); DStv Now, SuperSport GOtv (NGA)
Fulham team news: It’s been a good day for mid-table Fulham (as usual), with draws against Liverpool and Crystal Palace and wins over West Ham and Nottingham Forest. Both teams scored in stoppage time in their last game against Liverpool, with Fulham equalizing through Harrison Reid’s most incredible goal of the season: only his fourth in over 200 appearances for the club.
They did all this despite losing three key players (Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukweeze) to Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations and missing several others through injury (Josh King, Kenny Tate and Rodrigo Muniz). Even better news for them is that Ryan Sessegnon looks set to return from his hamstring problem.
advertise
Head coach Marco Silva is tired of the mental and physical toll these games take on his players, although when it comes to special derbies (or even friendlies) that concern may be brushed aside, especially when one side may feel unfair due to a decision (i.e. Josh King’s goal being disallowed earlier in the season at the Bridge).
“It’s special. It’s special because we know what’s going on. […] We didn’t win at Stamford Bridge and it really hurt ourselves, our fans and this football club. The team’s performance in the first half was almost perfect, in a very difficult game against a top team, the performance and everything that happened in that game really hurt this football club. I’m not talking about one or two people, or just the players – we, the football club, the way things happened on Saturday morning.
“That’s what it is – now it’s another opportunity for us to enjoy, to take on a great challenge with our fans, to play a derby like a derby. It’s as simple as that. It’s a new game, a new story. I don’t want anyone to think about the past, we have to look to the future and most importantly the next one. This is a special game.”
-Marco Silva; Source: Fulham Football Club
Let it go, let it go…
Chelsea team news: Roberto Sanchez and Wesley Fofana were both sidelined over the weekend with injury and illness, but both are back in training and expected to start. The same goes for Marc Cucurella, who is mostly injury-free but has missed the past few games with a hamstring issue. We also welcome Moises Caicedo back from his latest suspension.
advertise
Levi Colwell, Dario Esugo and Romeo Lavia are still absent. The club recently wished Muhailo Mudrick a happy birthday on social media, so we should probably mention the suspended winger here as well. Misha, how’s the appeal process going?
McFarland hopes to hand over the reins to Ronnie Orr and get the team back on the right path.
“[This is a] Really talented team, young, hungry and have proven they can play in the top league against top teams. Anyone associated with the club should be proud of their performance on Sunday and moving on, this team has huge potential so we should all be excited. “
— Callum McFarlane; Source: London Football News
Before: Last season we went to Craven Cottage at a low point and came back at an absolute high. Tyrique George’s late equalizer and Pedro Neto’s late winner set the team on fire, eventually not only finishing in the top four but winning the FIFA Club World Cup later that summer.