Claudio Ranieri has a very tough assignment in his first away match in charge of Fulham, as he’ll face Chelsea, the team he managed 14 years ago. Of course, Ranieri knew the job of salvaging Fulham, the league’s absolute bottom side right now, would be a major challenge when he took the gig.
The Italian will face a Blues side that lost its first match of the season, in any competition, only just last weekend at Tottenham Hotspur. The hosts come into this clash with a nearly perfect level of fitness too. Star man Eden Hazard will face a late fitness test due to the twisted ankle he suffered in last weekend’s defeat, but it’s largely thought that he’ll be ready to go on Sunday.
Having rested during the Blues’ 4-0 win over PAOK Salonika in UEFA Europa League action on Thursday, it would be quite surprising if he isn’t in the first team. Meanwhile Ethan Ampadu is back in full training after having recovered from the knock he suffered while on international duty with Wales.
Finally for Chelsea, Victor Moses missed the Europa clash due to a back injury, and is widely regarded to be a doubt for this match.
Flipping over to the hosts, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Kevin McDonald are both doubts for this match, but they got a boost with Joe Bryan returning to action after a seven-week injury layoff in the Craven Cottagers’ last outing versus Saints.
Neither team has any player unavailable due to suspension.
Chelsea FC vs Fulham FC FYIs
Chelsea FC starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kick-off: 12pm (BST), Sunday December 2nd, Stamford Bridge
Odds via Odds checker: Chelsea FC 1/6, Draw 7/1, Fulham 15/1
Prediction: Chelsea FC 3, Fulham 0
Feel free to post your own Chelsea and/or Fulham starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be. Enjoy the match everybody!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.