Chelsea make the short trip to Craven Cottage for a west London derby with Fulham on Monday evening.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have failed to score in each of their last three matches and have not gone four in a row without netting since September 2007.
Scoring against Fulham will not be an easy task for Chelsea, especially given the hosts have kept a joint-high three clean sheets along with Manchester City.
When the two sides met in this fixture last season, Fulham earned a 2-1 success. However, they have failed to win their following nine London derbies since that victory.
Team news
Fulham will be missing Tosin Adarabioyo and Adama Traore, while Kenny Tete is to be assessed. Sasa Lukic will return to the squad for the first time since August.
Chelsea will be without defenders Ben Chilwell, Reece James and Malo Gusto, the latter serving the second of a three-match suspension following a red card against Aston Villa.
Nicolas Jackson is also suspended after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season in the same match.
Last five meetings
3 Feb 2023: Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
12 Jan 2023: Fulham 2-1 Chelsea
1 May 2021: Chelsea 2-0 Fulham
16 Jan 2021: Fulham 0-1 Chelsea
3 Mar 2019: Fulham 1-2 Chelsea
Key facts
Four of Willian’s five Premier League goals for Fulham have come at Craven Cottage, including one against his former side Chelsea in this exact fixture last season. The Brazilian made 234 league appearances for the Blues between 2013 and 2020, scoring 37 goals and providing 33 assists.
Fulham are winless in their last nine Premier League London derbies (D4 L5), since beating Chelsea 2-1 back in January. This will be their fourth derby already in 2023/24, losing their first at home to Brentford (0- 3) before drawing at both Arsenal (2-2) and Crystal Palace (0-0).
Chelsea have failed to score in each of their last three Premier League matches, despite attempting 45 shots (15 per match) with a total expected goals tally of 5.5 in this run. The Blues last went four league matches without scoring in September 2007.
Chelsea lost this exact fixture 2-1 last season – only once before have they ever lost consecutive away league matches against Fulham, doing so in April 1977 while in the second tier.
What the managers said
Marco Silva: “Of course, they [Chelsea] haven't started the way they would like. Since Mauricio [Pochettino] came in, he is trying to get the things in the right direction for them to fight for titles, like they want to be, but really that’s not the most important thing for us. We will look for ourselves.”
Mauricio Pochettino: "It's really important the victory [1-0 EFL Cup third round win against Brighton] because it gets us to the next round, but also for the trust and to build our confidence. It was another very solid performance which we translated into a victory, which the players needed, the team needed and the fans also.
"I am happy, the effort was fantastic from the team and now this situation can make us stronger and give us confidence for Monday."
