Saturday Fulham Stuff - 16/01/21...

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Fulham vs Chelsea prediction: How will Premier League fixture play out tonight?

Everything you need to know ahead of this afternoon's fixture at Craven Cottage

Fulham host Chelsea in a Premier League west London derby this afternoon.

The Cottagers have enjoyed something of a turnaround in recent weeks, with a run of five successive draws lifting them to within reach of safety. In fact, Scott Parker's side are now just two points adrift of Brighton and boast two games in hand, although they will still need all their mettle to avoid relegation this season. Draws against Liverpool and Tottenham are the best evidence that they are up for the fight.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have taken something of a nosedive as of late, with a dismal defeat by Arsenal on Boxing day was followed by a draw with Aston Villa and another defeat by Man City. That run has seen the Blues tumbled down to ninth in the table and placed scrutiny on Frank Lampard's position once again. The plight of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz remains a huge dilemma for the head coach, although Hakim Ziyech and Reece James's return from injury will provide a welcome boost.

History is firmly on Chelsea's side, too, with the Blues unbeaten in their last 18 top flight games against their neighbours.

Here is everything you need to know:

When is it and what time is kick-off?

The match will begin at 5.30pm on Saturday 16 January at Craven Cottage.

How can I watch it online and on TV?

The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event from 5pm.

If you're not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content.

What is the team news?

Tom Cairney and Mario Lemina are expected to miss out for Fulham while Aleksandar Mitrovic is a doubt.

N'Golo Kante is suspended for Chelsea but other than that Lampard is set to have a full squad at his disposal.

What are the predicted line-ups?

Fulham: Areola; Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo; Tete, Reid, Reed, Anguissa, Robinson; Lookman, Cavaleiro

Chelsea: Mendy; James, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Kovacic, Jorginho, Mount; Pulisic, Werner, Ziyech

What are the odds?

Fulham - 11/2

Draw - 10/3

Chelsea - 1/2

Prediction

Although Chelsea's form has been questionable as of late, they should be able to return to winning ways against Fulham. The Blues will be able to dominate possession and, should there attack show cutting edge, cruise to a comfortable away victory. Fulham 0-3 Chelsea



https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/fulham/chelsea-prediction-form-odds-results-table-b1787921.html

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Fulham vs Chelsea: 16/01/2021 – match preview and predicted starting XIs

Fulham vs Chelsea

Date: 16/01/2021

K/O: 17:30
Venue: Craven Cottage
Referee: Peter Banked

Scott Parker's men welcome their blue neighbours on Saturday in what promises to be an exciting West London derby.

The home side are placed 18th in the table, though that doesn't really tell the full story. With five draws in their last five games, Fulham have tightened up at the back and have only conceded three goals in their last five. Two of these five draws came against Liverpool and most recently against Spurs. Parker will be happy with his team's fighting spirit and will undoubtedly be looking to get something out of this game.

The Blues find themselves ninth in the table after a bad patch of form. A win, a draw and three losses in their last five, most recently against Manchester City, have dampened the earlier high spirits of Lampard's men. A 4-0 thumping of Morecambe in the FA Cup would have surely helped with their morale but they will be looking to stamp their authority against their local rivals to start making their way back into the mix for the top-four.

Chelsea will surely plan on starting on the front foot against Fulham and get an early goal but Parker's men, who have recently looked solid at the back, will try to ensure that they have a low block and counter whenever they get a chance. Parker will know that with Chelsea's recent dip in form, this is a good time to play them.


Fulham vs Chelsea: 16/01/2021 – match preview and predicted starting XIs
By Karan ManikChelseaFeaturedFulhamPreview | 15 January, 2021

Fulham vs Chelsea

Date: 16/01/2021

K/O: 17:30
Venue: Craven Cottage
Referee: Peter Banked

Scott Parker's men welcome their blue neighbours on Saturday in what promises to be an exciting West London derby.
Embed from Getty Images
The home side are placed 18th in the table, though that doesn't really tell the full story. With five draws in their last five games, Fulham have tightened up at the back and have only conceded three goals in their last five. Two of these five draws came against Liverpool and most recently against Spurs. Parker will be happy with his team's fighting spirit and will undoubtedly be looking to get something out of this game.
The Blues find themselves ninth in the table after a bad patch of form. A win, a draw and three losses in their last five, most recently against Manchester City, have dampened the earlier high spirits of Lampard's men. A 4-0 thumping of Morecambe in the FA Cup would have surely helped with their morale but they will be looking to stamp their authority against their local rivals to start making their way back into the mix for the top-four.
Chelsea will surely plan on starting on the front foot against Fulham and get an early goal but Parker's men, who have recently looked solid at the back, will try to ensure that they have a low block and counter whenever they get a chance. Parker will know that with Chelsea's recent dip in form, this is a good time to play them.
Embed from Getty Images
It could turn out to be a cagey affair with both clubs looking to get something out of the game, with both managers experiencing different dimensions of pressure at the top and bottom of the Premier League table.
Team News

Fulham

The home team will be without Mario Lemina and Tom Cairney, who are missing out through injury. They will be hoping Mitrovic can be involved in some capacity on Saturday, but his fitness will be assessed closer to the game.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be ineligible to play against his parent club.
Chelsea
Lampard has been boosted by the return of his injured players, mainly Reece James. Ngolo Kante is suspended and will miss out. The Blues boss has an almost fully fit squad to choose from.

Predicted Starting XIs

Fulham (3-5-2): Areola; Adarabioyo, Andersen, Aina; Tete, Reid, Reed, Zambo Anguissa, Robinson; Cavaleiro, Lookman
Chelsea (4-3-3): Mendy; James, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Kovacic, Jorginho, Mount; Ziyech, Werner, Pulisic
Score Prediction: Fulham 1-2 Chelsea

This could be a tighter affair than most think, though I feel Chelsea will get all three points due to a fully fit and superior attack.



https://90maat.com/fulham-vs-chelsea-16-01-2021-match-preview-and-predicted-starting-xis/

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Can Fulham foil Chelsea after ending derby jinx?

Team news

Aleksandar Mitrovic could be in contention for Fulham but Ruben Loftus-Cheek is ineligible to face his parent club. Mario Lemina and Tom Cairney remain sidelined through injury.

Chelsea's Reece James and Andreas Christensen are available but N'Golo Kante serves a one-match ban.

Did you know?

This is the first Premier League meeting between these clubs with both sides having an English manager. Scott Parker's first match in charge of Fulham was a 2-1 defeat against Chelsea in March 2019.

Fulham are unbeaten in five Premier League matches, drawing each of those.

The Cottagers' midweek draw with Tottenham Hotspur ended a run of 13 consecutive PL defeats in London derbies. They last avoided defeat in back-to-back derbies during a run of three wins between January and April 2013.

Chelsea have lost just one of their 28 PL meetings with Fulham (W17 D10). Among the 373 fixtures to have been played at least 50 times in English top-flight history, the lowest win percentage by a team against an opponent is Fulham against Chelsea, with six per cent.

Match officials

Referee: Peter Bankes. Assistants: Neil Davies, James Mainwaring. Fourth official: Mike Dean. VAR: Jarred Gillett. Assistant VAR: Adam Nunn.



https://www.premierleague.com/news/1971136

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Lampard details concern over fixture scheduling and praises Parker's start in management

Frank Lampard believes football's authorities must work more closely with clubs to manage the difficult fixture schedule amid increasing last-minute postponements in the Premier League due to the prevalence of Covid-19 cases.

A number of top-flight matches have been affected in recent weeks and Fulham, this evening's opponents for Lampard's Chelsea, were informed at short notice earlier in the week that they would be facing Tottenham on Wednesday.

That meant our west London derby with the Cottagers was pushed back from Friday to Saturday, a move Lampard believes will hinder his side as it reduces recovery and preparation time ahead of Tuesday's trip to Leicester City. 

Furthermore, the Blues boss feels the Premier League have shown far more flexibility over recent rescheduling compared to the Christmas period, when his side were forced to play two matches in three days, and that inconsistency in approach is difficult to take.

'Changing the game from Friday to Saturday didn't make a difference too much for me at the front end because we have a week to prepare but obviously it means the gap between Fulham and Leicester is now even tighter for us,' said Lampard.

'My biggest gripe as manager of Chelsea Football Club is that nobody came to help us when we played two games on the 26th and the 28th December over Christmas, when it clearly could have been moved. This is not a normal season and we're all here to find the best way through it but all of a sudden these rules have come in, even though at Christmas it was fine for us to play within two days.

'The Premier League could have done better to look after us, and Aston Villa, by moving that game but they didn't. Now it seems that consistency is going to be difficult and it's definitely going to put a mark on this season whatever happens. My preference would have been to keep the game as a Friday. That was overruled but I'm very happy to play fair with that.'

Lampard has called for the authorities to be more open and transparent with clubs moving forward.

'The Premier League have to open up the conversation and dialogue much more,' he continued. 'It can't be right that you're just told. It must be an open conversation. If Scott [Parker, Fulham's manager] has been told two days before they're about to play in the Premier League then that for me really isn't good enough.'

On the subject of Parker, a club and international team-mate during their playing days, Lampard noted how the former midfielder's attributes were always well-suited to a move into management. The two were Chelsea colleagues for 18 months and Lampard is not surprised his friend is doing so well following promotion from the Championship last summer.

'He was diligent, very determined, had a good football brain and prepared right so everything about Scott as a player made me think he could go on to coaching and management,' he added. 

'The only doubt is do they want to but he showed his ideas very quickly when he got into his coaching badges and started his pathway with the youth team at Tottenham. He has done fantastically well and will continue to do so.'

Lampard revealed the pair had stayed close following Parker's departure from Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2005 and he is excited to pit his wits against the 40-year-old this evening.

'We spent time together on holiday a couple of summers ago and talked about our passion for the job, the work and what we wanted to do,' said Lampard. 'We were work friends for a while and kept in touch with a message now and again.

'I was delighted for him when they got promoted last year and with the passion he showed at Wembley when they did so. The way he worked through what was a tough time with a team in some form of transition that had been relegated was a measure of him and he's doing great at the moment. I'm looking forward to the challenge of going up against him.'



https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/01/16/lampard-details-concern-over-fixture-scheduling-and-praises-park?cardIndex=0-0

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Ex-Arsenal Midfielder Pinpoints Two Major Assets Of Fulham's Lookman Ahead Of

Previewing the Premier League meeting between Fulham and Chelsea, former Arsenal midfielder Adrian Clarke has highlighted the two major attributes of RB Leipzig loanee Ademola Lookman.

The 2017 U20 World Cup winner has been one of the standout players in the Fulham side who are unbeaten in their last five games in the top-flight, bagging assists against two strong teams in Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

Lookman has a team-high 0.35 chances created per ninety, and is also the top man when it comes to chances created in open play with 1.75 per ninety, while he is second for shots (1.83), dribbles completed (3.15) and touches in opposition box (4.28) per ninety.

Clarke believes Lookman will cause problems for the Chelsea backline with his speed and dribbling ability.

"His speed and dribbling ability are a major asset, so he will be expected to take Chelsea defenders on at Craven Cottage," Clarke said on PremierLeague.com.

"He scored a stunning solo goal in a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United, and finished off a counter-attack with aplomb in the win at Leicester, having sprinted 60 yards to score.

"Lookman's individual magic also inspired goals against Everton and Spurs, when he beat his man before supplying quality crosses from the byline."

Josh Onomah, Tosin Adarabioyo and Ola Aina are the other players of Nigerian descent in contention to face Chelsea at Craven Cottage.

Igho Kingsley



https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=38632

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Fulham XI vs Chelsea: Confirmed team news, predicted lineup, injury latest for Premier League today

Aleksandar Mitrovic could return for Fulham's match with Chelsea on Saturday.

The striker missed Wednesday's draw at Tottenham after tweaking a muscle during Saturday's FA Cup win over QPR.

Mitrovic, however, has since trained and could return to the squad - but midfielders Tom Cairney and Mario Lemina are still out.

"Mitrovic is possible to be there for the weekend," said Parker.

"He trained today - lightly - and we will see how he pulls through tomorrow. Then the other two boys (Cairney and Lemina) are just not available at the moment. Tom has got an issue with his knee."

Saturday's trip to Chelsea will be Fulham's second match in four days and it may mean Scott Parker has to make some changes.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek cannot play as he is on loan from Chelsea and Ademola Lookman - who impressed off the bench against Spurs - is one player pushing for a start.

Fulham predicted XI (3-5-2): Areola; Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo; Tete, Reid, Reed, Zambo, Robinson; Cavaleiro, Lookman



https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-xi-vs-chelsea-fc-confirmed-team-news-predicted-lineup-injury-latest-premier-league-today-b898126.html

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