This festive Saturday, Stamford Bridge prepares to host the well-renowned West London derby as Chelsea welcome local rivals Fulham. Located just a mere 3km away from each other, this particular fixture is rich in both tradition and history. Although Chelsea boast greater resources and European pedigree than Fulham, history shows that financial power and past success count for very little once the whistle blows. Despite this, Chelsea remain the heavy favorites for this game.
Under the management of Enzo Maresca, Chelsea prepare for this match with full confidence. After being crowned world champions in July, Chelsea have gotten off to a respectable unbeaten start this season. Following being held to an underwhelming 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace, the Blues went on to smash 5 sublime goals at the London Stadium in an emphatic 5-1 victory over West Ham where new signings João Pedro and Estêvão stole the show. However, injuries continue to plague the world champions. Benoît Badiashile and Romeo Lavia continue to be sidelined while star man Cole Palmer is set to miss the derby after sustaining an injury during the warm-up ahead of the West Ham clash.
Fulham’s pragmatism is to be admired, led by Marco Silva, Fulham have shown admirable resilience and professionalism. Fulham have opened the 2025/26 campaign with two hard-fought 1-1 draws — first against a youthful Brighton side, and then against the once-mighty Manchester United. They followed up these performances with a comfortable 2-0 win in the Carabao Cup against Bristol City. Fulham possess highly experienced names such as Bernd Leno, Adama Traore and Raúl Jiménez. Their pragmatic, experience based approach always makes Fulham a likeable team. It would come as no surprise if Fulham adopted a defence-minded, possession-oriented approach to counter Chelsea’s fluid style of play.
Predicted Lineup for Chelsea: Robert Sánchez, Marc Cucurella, Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo, Pedro Neto, João Pedro, Estêvão and Liam Delap.
Predicted Lineup for Fulham: Bernd Leno, Kenny Tete, Joachim Andersen, Calvin Bassey, Ryan Sessegnon, Saša Lukić, Sander Berge, Adama Traore, Joshua King, Alex Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz.
This Article is Authored by Mr. KanavJain.