Fulham V Chelsea

English Premiership 2009/2010

Fulham V Chelsea

Kick-Off: Sunday 23^rd August – 16:00 GMT

Venue: Craven Cottage

We’ve been treated to a West-London derby here as Fulham set out to frustrate Chelsea for second successive season. The ‘Cottagers’ managed to restrict Chelsea to a 2-2 draw when the pair last met at Craven Cottage last season but that result was somewhat of an anomaly with Chelsea vastly enjoying this meeting in recent seasons. Will Carlo Ancelotti be celebrating for the third time in succession of will Fulham maintain their unbeaten start to the season?

Although Fulham may have missed the midweek Premiership action, they were getting tucked into a Europa League qualifier as they entertained Russia side Amkar Perm at Craven Cottage, a tie they came through unharmed, winning 3-1 although they will be very disappointed that they didn’t manage to keep a clean sheet. That was a huge result for Fulham as it puts them in the driving seat in the tie but the fact that Roy Hodgeson is taking that competition so seriously may be a concern as it could become an issue later on into the season in regards to rotating the squad.

Fulham are generally renowned for their poor results on their travels but they didn’t waste any time putting that voodoo to bed with a 1-0 victory down South against Portsmouth. Bobby Zamora only managed four goals last season but scored in his first outing, albeit with a fluke goal off his back, but Zamora is off the mark at least. That goal should lift his confidence but the win will work wonders for the overall morale of the team as they brace themselves for what could potentially be another memorable season, especially as Fulham could be entertaining some of Europe’s biggest sides in the newly reformed Europa League.

The bookies favourites for the league title have already shown some form of justification with two straight victories at home to Hull City and away at Sunderland. What’s more, both their opening two wins will bring added confidence to the Chelsea ranks with both games featuring Chelsea revivals. The ‘Blues’ went 1-0 down early on before scoring an injury time winner at home to Hull while Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Deco clawed back a 1-0 deficit at the Stadium of Light after Sunderland took an early lead through Darren Bent. Those wins sent out a message to the whole of England that Chelsea have the spirit and determination required to win the greatest competition of them all – The Premiership. However, if it was a toss up between the Premiership & The Champions League then we think it’s safe to say Chelsea would choose the latter.

Five goals and four different goalscorers, the mood within the Chelsea camp must be at an high right now after completing two come-backs within the space of three days. Their performances in both were satisfactory but there is definitely more to come from Chelsea although you could never see either Hull or Sunderland keeping Chelsea at bay for the full 90 minutes despite taking the lead early on. It’s evident that Carlo Ancelotti has got straight down to work and the results, so far anyway, are paying dividends. This will be their first mini-test of the new campaign though as Chelsea face their West-London rivals.

Head-to-Head: Fulham W: 1 Chelsea W: 6 Draws: 3

Although Chelsea have generally enjoyed this fixture in the past, Fulham have shown signs of resisting more recently, especially last year. Fulham went down 3-1 at Stamford Bridge but pushed Chelsea mighty close at Craven Cottage, drawing 2-2. However, Fulham’s solitary win over Chelsea in their previous 10 meetings came way back in the 2005/2006 season when Fulham beat the ‘Chelski’ 1-0.

Match Verdict: Chelsea to WIN - 8/13 BetFred

Chelsea look the complete package this season with sufficient cover in every position. They’ve made the perfect start to the season with two wins on the bounce and although there has been a few scares along the way, we can’t see Fulham halting the Chelsea express on Sunday. It should be a close affair and one where Fulham should come away with a fair bit of credit but we think they’ll just come up short.

Match Odds:

Fulham – 6/1 PaddyPower

Chelsea – 8/13 BetFred

Draw – 14/5 Bet365

SoccerBetting Tip: Over 2.5 Goals – 19/20 Bet365