Blues boss Thomas Tuchel named the same starting lineup in the win over West Ham and the draw with Real Madrid, so one can expect some squad rotation when Chelsea hosts Fulham FC on Saturday.
The struggling Timo Werner, who we spotlighted in the team news post, will likely take a seat. Emerging Gen-Z stars Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic could get a rest here, before the second leg of the Champions League semifinal tie versus Madrid. That means you will see a host of underused players pushing for a potential first team assignment here.
Chelsea vs Fulham FC FYIs
Team news for both sides: go here
Kick off: 5:30pm GMT, Sat May 1, 5:30pm Stamford Bridge
TV/Stream: Sky Sports, Sky Sports App
Odds: Fulham win +650 Draw +340 Chelsea win -230
Premier League Position: Chelsea 4th, 58 pts Fulham 18th, 27 pts
Premier League Form Guide: Chelsea WDWLD, Fulham DLLLL
This group includes Tammy Abraham, Marcos Alonso, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour, Hakim Ziyech, Reece James, Kai Havertz, Emerson Palmieri and Olivier Giroud. We included a few, but not all, in our starting lineup prediction for this London derby.
Chelsea FC (3-4-2-1) Starting XI Prediction vs Fulham FC
Mendy; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kante, Alonso; Hudson-Odoi, Havertz; Giroud
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Fulham FC 0
While Tuchel will obviously be more focused on next week’s UCL semifinal second leg with Real Madrid, he can’t take his foot off the pedal too much. Chelsea should cruise, but it will require a real legitimate effort to do so.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.