Chelsea v Fulham predictions

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event/Premier League, 8pm Friday

Best bet

Fulham or draw double chance
1pt 11-8 Coral

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Team news

Chelsea
Armando Broja, Christian Pulisic, N'Golo Kante, Denis Zakaria, Wesley Fofana and Edouard Mendy are injured and Joao Felix completes a three-game ban. Mateo Kovacic (calf) is a doubt and Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Reece James face late fitness tests.

Fulham
Neeskens Kebano (Achilles) is a long-term absentee.

Match preview

Chelsea's astonishing January spending spree concluded with the £107m capture of Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Benfica on Tuesday, but there has been very little evidence of tangible progress on the field and the Blues' faint hopes of Champions League qualification are at risk of being damaged by a failure to defeat Fulham at Stamford Bridge.

The deal for Fernandez took Chelsea's winter spending to an estimated £289m and raised their outlay under Todd Boehly to more than £550m across two transfer windows since the summer.

It is a level of spending which dwarfs anything ever seen in the Premier League and there seems little hope of an early return on investment with Chelsea 8-1 for a top-four finish and 16-1 for Champions League success.

Despite the short-term splurge, the Blues' rebuild looks like a long-term project and there appears no immediate threat to the job security of Graham Potter, who is 14-1 to be the next top-flight manager to depart.

Potter has remained level-headed and spoke of positives after last month's 0-0 draw at Liverpool which marked the debut of Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk.

The 22-year-old looked a threat during his Anfield cameo and may be ready for his first start on Friday.

However, there was a lack of confidence from both teams in the Merseyside stalemate and it would take a leap of faith to regard Chelsea as solid odds-on shots to crush the Cottagers.

Just three weeks have passed since Chelsea were beaten 2-1 at Craven Cottage and, while they would hope to play better, there is also the likelihood of more improvement from Fulham.

It is worth remembering that Fulham were victorious despite the absence of suspended striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is a talismanic figure.

Not so long ago the Serbian striker had a reputation as a Championship specialist but he has delivered on a regular basis this season and sits fourth in the scoring charts with 11 goals.

Mitrovic spearheads a talented side who are coping comfortably with the step up from the second tier.

They improved multiple positions with last summer's impressive recruitment drive but none of the new signings have impacted more than midfielder Joao Palhinha, who tops the tackling statistics with 94 – 23 more than second-placed Tyler Adams.

Fulham's expertise at the ugly side of the game has been a key factor in their campaign and it could help them take another point or three off the Blues, who may have to deal with another setback.

Key stat

Chelsea have failed to win eight of their last ten fixtures

Probable teams

Chelsea (3-4-3): Arrizabalaga; Chalobah, Silva, Badiashile; Azpilicueta, Gallagher, Kovacic, Cucurella; Mudryk, Havertz, Mount.
Subs: Bettinelli, Madueke, Koulibaly, Aubameyang, Chukwuemeka, Loftus-Cheek, D Fofana, Hall, Hutchinson, Fernandez.

Fulham (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed; De Cordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Mitrovic.
Subs: Rodak, Solomon, Cairney, Wilson, Vinicius, James, Tosin, Kurzawa, Lukic.