Fulham vs Chelsea

Joao Felix goes straight into the Chelsea starting XI for tonight's west London derby against Fulham.

[Denis Zakaria](/en/teams/profile/denis-zakaria) returns in central midfield alongside [Mateo Kovacic](/en/teams/profile/mateo-kovacic), and [Kai Havertz](/en/teams/profile/kai-havertz) is flanked by Mount and debutant Joao Felix. [Trevoh Chalobah](/en/teams/profile/trevoh-chalobah) and [Kalidou Koulibaly](/en/teams/profile/kalidou-koulibaly) are expected to line up either side of him, with [Cesar Azpilicueta](/en/teams/profile/cesar-azpilicueta) and [Lewis Hall](/en/teams/profile/lewis-hall) at wing-back. The line-up also suggests we will move to a back three.

Minute-by-minute report: Can Chelsea halt their slump when they face their in-form neighbours at Craven Cottage? Find out with Rob Smyth.

52 min: Chance for Pereira Robinson belts the ball down the left wing to find Pereira, who runs off Chalobah and shoots wide of the near post from a tight angle. Leno comes out, Havertz tries to chip him, and the ball hits Leno in the face before deflecting behind for a corner. 55 min It’s a problem with his left leg, his knee I think, which he seemed to jar while kicking the ball away. From what I’ve read, and from talking to mates who are Liverpool fans, I agree that that was one of the rare examples where sacking a manager early on is almost essential. 63 min “One sign of how well coached Fulham are is that the players rarely seem to be any doubt what to do,” says Kári Tulinius. 70 min “Slightly unfortunate moment in the TalkSport commentary when discussing Zakaria’s injury and not appreciating the occasional value of a pause between sentences,” says Tom Stratfod. 58 min Replays confirm it was a wretched challenge, with Joao Felix’s studs going into Tete’s shin, and he can have no complains. Kepa came and got nowhere near it, and Vinicius pulled away from Chalobah to head into the empty net. The performance against Everton was not the greatest you’ve ever seen and Northampton aren’t a great team. I don’t necessarily think Potter shouldn’t be given time but I don’t agree that you shouldn’t fire a manager in his first season. Chelsea were better than in recent weeks, with Joao Felix pretty impressive – until he was given a straight red card early in the second half for a dangerous tackle on Kenny Tete. He tried an overhead kick and made the slightest contact before the ball landed at Azpilicueta’s right foot.

Fulham host Chelsea in a west London derby which could see the Cottagers move six points ahead of the Blues in the Premier League table.

The imposing Wright scored against Morocco in a pre-World Cup friendly before delivering the aforementioned late goal at the World Cup. Wright has seven USMNT caps and took the unconventional approach of signing for then-NASL side New York Cosmos after making his name in the LA Galaxy academy. It also notes that Lille boss Paulo Fonseca is thin on the right side. L’Equipe says that Premier League sides Fulham, Everton, and Brighton are looking into Weah, son of legendary Liberian striker and current Liberia president George Weah. 16:00 Arsenal v Wolves 16:00 Aston Villa v Brighton 16:00 Brentford v Man City 16:00 Chelsea v Newcastle 16:00 Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest 16:00 Everton v AFC Bournemouth 16:00 Leeds v Spurs 16:00 Leicester v West Ham 16:00 Man Utd v Fulham 16:00 Southampton v Liverpool Below is the full schedule, as you can watch all 380 games across our NBC platforms. QUESTIONABLE: Patrick Bamford (groin), Adam Forshaw (groin) QUESTIONABLE: Matty Cash (knock), Ludwig Augustinsson (knock) Since returning, a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City was followed a scoreless draw with Newcastle and a back-and-forth 2-2 draw with West Ham. After scoring multiple goals just once in their first 13 games, Villa put three past Man United on his debut, and two each in ensuing wins over Spurs and Brighton. Aston Villa (22 points – 11th place) have lost just once (to Liverpool since Emery took over from Steven Gerrard on Nov. Ben Chilwell, Armando Broja, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Edouard Mendy remain out, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is battling through a back issue.

Former Chelsea midfielder Willian had given Fulham a 25th-minute lead against his former club before Kalidou Koulibaly scrambled home an equaliser two minutes ...

The Brazilian veteran was then allowed to cut in on his favored right foot before unleashing a low shot that deflected off Chalobah and in off the far post to give Fulham the lead. The best of those openings came five minutes before the interval when, from Havertz's layoff, his shot produced a fine reaction save down low by [Willian](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/178487/Willian) at the back post. The second half wasn't at our best level," he said. [Andreas Pereira](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/210143/andreas-pereira), for a pinpoint cross, and Vinicius, for a towering back-post header, both deserve plaudits, but there was plenty to criticise once more in the visitors' defending and goalkeeper [Kepa Arrizabalaga](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/169532/kepa-arrizabalaga) getting caught in no-man's land. [Trevoh Chalobah](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/227784/trevoh-chalobah) gifted a chance to [Bobby De Cordova-Reid](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/142055/bobby-de-cordova-reid), whose effort clattered the crossbar, Chelsea fell behind. [Bernd Leno](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/153765/Bernd-Leno) in the Fulham goal. There was more misery for Potter, too, besides the result. [Tim Ream](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/146290/Tim-Ream) down the right to cut into the box and pick out [Kai Havertz](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/231182/Kai-Havertz), whose low shot was blocked before [Lewis Hall](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/106139/Lewis-Hall) failed to make the most of an even clearer chance off the rebound. [Carlos Vinicius](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/252576/Carlos-Vinicius), in for the suspended [Aleksandar Mitrovic](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/183209/aleksandar-mitrovic), made the most of more poor Chelsea defending to head home the winner in the 73rd minute. [Denis Zakaria](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/222628/Denis-Zakaria) suffer a second-half injury to add to Chelsea's mounting list of absentees. [Atletico Madrid](/football/team?id=1068), cut short Chelsea's comeback when his high tackle on [Kenny Tete](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/190974/Kenny-Tete) just before the hour mark saw the Portugal forward shown a red card.

Former Chelsea midfielder Willian had given Fulham a 25th-minute lead against his former club before Kalidou Koulibaly scrambled home an equaliser two minutes ...

The Brazilian veteran was then allowed to cut in on his favored right foot before unleashing a low shot that deflected off Chalobah and in off the far post to give Fulham the lead. The best of those openings came five minutes before the interval when, from Havertz's layoff, his shot produced a fine reaction save down low by [Willian](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/178487/Willian) at the back post. [Trevoh Chalobah](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/227784/trevoh-chalobah) gifted a chance to [Bobby De Cordova-Reid](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/142055/bobby-de-cordova-reid), whose effort clattered the crossbar, Chelsea fell behind. [Andreas Pereira](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/210143/andreas-pereira), for a pinpoint cross, and Vinicius, for a towering back-post header, both deserve plaudits, but there was plenty to criticise once more in the visitors' defending and goalkeeper [Kepa Arrizabalaga](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/169532/kepa-arrizabalaga) getting caught in no-man's land. The second half wasn't at our best level," he said. [Bernd Leno](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/153765/Bernd-Leno) in the Fulham goal. There was more misery for Potter, too, besides the result. [Tim Ream](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/146290/Tim-Ream) down the right to cut into the box and pick out [Kai Havertz](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/231182/Kai-Havertz), whose low shot was blocked before [Lewis Hall](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/106139/Lewis-Hall) failed to make the most of an even clearer chance off the rebound. [Carlos Vinicius](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/252576/Carlos-Vinicius), in for the suspended [Aleksandar Mitrovic](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/183209/aleksandar-mitrovic), made the most of more poor Chelsea defending to head home the winner in the 73rd minute. [Denis Zakaria](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/222628/Denis-Zakaria) suffer a second-half injury to add to Chelsea's mounting list of absentees. [Atletico Madrid](/soccer/team?id=1068), cut short Chelsea's comeback when his high tackle on [Kenny Tete](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/190974/Kenny-Tete) just before the hour mark saw the Portugal forward shown a red card.

High-flyers Fulham will look to break into the Premier League's top-6 when they host struggling Chelsea in a derby clash at Craven Cottage.

They defeated Hull City 2-0 in the third round of the FA Cup, extending their winning run to four games along the way. The Blues are currently languishing in tenth place in the league standings ahead of their clash with Fulham on Thursday night this weekend, and despite being a top-four regulars in past campaigns, they are now 10 points adrift of fourth-place Manchester United as we head into the second half of the season. The newly-promoted Fulham are having a fantastic season and will be looking to get one over on their more renowned neighbours in the local derby on Thursday night.