Fulham vs Chelsea betting tips, BuildABet, best bets and preview
Football betting tips: Monday Night Football
2pts Chelsea to score 2+ goals at 21/20 (General)
1pt Chelsea to score 3+ goals at 18/5 (BetVictor)
Despite the growing noise at Stamford Bridge and ever-looming possibility that Todd Boehly may complete a hat-trick of rash managerial sackings, Chelsea really aren't a million miles away under Mauricio Pochettino.
Their lowly position of 16th in the Premier League table heading into the weekend belies the strong performances that have been delivered.
The Blues sit fifth according to expected points (xP) - a metric very useful as an indicator for whether a team is really as bad (or as good) as results suggest.
From Chelsea’s perspective their problem has not been an inability to create chances, but taking them.
A trip to neighbours Fulham could be the perfect opportunity to kick-start their campaign.
What are the best bets?
The strong underlying numbers being produced by Pochettino’s men are not lost on the market, though, with Chelsea priced up as even money favourites.
For context, that is markedly shorter than another top-half aspiring west London team in Brentford, who ran out 3-0 winners at Craven Cottage a month or so ago having gone off at 13/8.
But the 21/20 about the Blues to SCORE 2+ GOALS looks inviting, as does the more ambitious 3+ GOALS at a pick ‘em 18/5 with BetVictor.
Fulham may have kept back-to-back clean sheets, but those were in games with Luton and Crystal Palace.
In the three games prior, Marco Silva’s team conceded 10 goals against Brentford, Arsenal and Manchester City.
That should give Chelsea (and us) plenty of confidence.
Moreover, only five teams (Liverpool, Man City, Brighton, Newcastle and Tottenham) have created more expected goals (xG) in their opening six league fixtures than Chelsea’s 11.83, which equates to an average of 1.97 xG per game.
Yes, they have only managed to convert that into five goals, but last weekend it was Everton who turned their strong attacking performances into goals and results by netting three times in a convincing win at Brentford.
Back it to be Chelsea’s turn on Monday night.
BuildABet @ 16/1
- Chelsea to win
- Chelsea to score 3+ goals
- Joao Palhinha to make 5+ tackles
Joao Palhinha will be a busy man on Monday night against a Chelsea side we fancy to find their scoring touch.
The Portuguese usually sits towards the top of the tackles charts and has made six, five and five in his past three matches.
Team news
Fulham midfielder Sasa Lukic is available again after a groin problem as their squad approaches full fitness.
Kenny Tete is doubtful, with Tosin Adarabioyo and Adama Traore the only first-team players who are sidelined.
Carney Chukwuemeka could return for Chelsea but Monday may come a touch too early for Armando Broja.
Ben Chilwell (hamstring) and Nicolas Jackson (suspension) have been added to the absentee list following Wednesday's 1-0 win over Brighton in the Carabao Cup.
Reece James, Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana and Marcus Bettinelli remain out injured while Malo Gusto serves the second game of his three-match ban.
Predicted line-ups
Fulham: Leno; Castagne, Diop, Ream, Robinson; Reed, Palhinha, Pereira; Willian, Jimenez, De Cordova-Reid.
Chelsea: Sanchez; Disasi, Thiago Silva, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Gallagher; Palmer, Enzo, Mudryk; Sterling.
Match facts
- Fulham picked up four points against Chelsea last season (W1 D1), as many points as they'd earned in their previous 15 against the Blues (W0 D4 L11).
- Chelsea lost this exact fixture 2-1 last season – only once before have they ever lost consecutive away league games against Fulham.
- Chelsea have trailed for just 39 minutes across their last 14 Premier League games against Fulham, with all of that time spent trailing coming in this exact fixture last term.
- Fulham are winless in their last nine Premier League London derbies (D4 L5) since beating Chelsea 2-1 back in January.
- Chelsea have failed to score in each of their last three league games, despite attempting 45 shots (15 per game) with a total expected goals tally of 5.5 in this run. The Blues last went four league games without scoring in September 2007, while the last side managed by Mauricio Pochettino to go four league matches without a goal was Espanyol in December 2009 (run of five).
- Heading into MD7, no side has kept more clean sheets in the Premier League this season than Fulham (3 – level with Man City), keeping back-to-back shutouts in the competition for the first time since a run of three ending in February (a run which started with a goalless draw against Chelsea).
- Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has exactly the same record after six Premier League games in charge of the Blues as he did with Southampton (P6 W1 D2 L3). He then went unbeaten in his next six league games with the Saints, picking up 12 points (W3 D3).
- 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.
Odds correct 1515 BST (27/09/23)
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