Fulham hope to continue the good run of results after they brought one point from Villa Park, but the Cottagers will not have an easy job in this match. Chelsea are desperately looking for a win following the home defeat to Liverpool, as the Blues are now fighting for the top 4 finish.

Fulham still going strong

Having earned the tag of one of the toughest teams to beat in the Premiership thanks to some impressive defensive performances last season, Fulham haven’t quite lived up to the reputation in the first part of the season as new boss Mark Hughes needed some time to get to grips with his new job. Nonetheless, some time during the busy Christmas schedule, the Cottagers finally found their game and they show no signs of slowing down, so it is clear that Chelsea faces a tough task at Craven Cottage. Fulham have won last three home games, keeping clean sheet in every one of them and seeing that Chelsea are far from the desired form, the Blues will have problems breaking one of the best defences in the Premiership.

Bobby Zamora returned into action after breaking his leg at the start of the season and even scored for the reserves, but he will not be in contention for the first team squad for another couple of weeks. Gael Kakuta is unavailable as he was loaned from Chelsea, while Etuhu and Senderos remain sidelined.

David Luiz set for his first start

Chelsea suffered a real blow to their title aspirations as they lost at home to Liverpool last weekend and even Carlo Ancelotti admitted the Blues were now out of the title race. That doesn’t mean the Blues can now relax as they slipped to fifth after Tottenham beat Sunderland, meaning they have to try and win this game in order to stay in contention for a top 4 place. While Fernando Torres and David Luiz are undoubtedly great players, their arrival seems to have somewhat upset the balance of the squad following a very good run of results, so it’s now back to the drawing board following the home defeat to Liverpool. The Blues could find it tough against in-form Fulham side, especially as their build-up play is far from impressive at the moment, so you shouldn’t expect too many goals at Craven Cottage.

David Luiz is set for his first start in Chelsea shirt, which could see Branislav Ivanovic move to right-back, with Jose Bosingwa struggling with injury. Alex, Benayoun and Zhirkov remain sidelined.

Verdict

It will be difficult for Chelsea to recover from the derby defeat to Liverpool and the Blues are likely to have problems against defence-minded Fulham. The Cottagers would be more than happy with one point from this match and they will act accordingly, so under 2.5 goals looks like the best option here.

Our prediction: Under 2.5 goals

Odds: 1.83 (5/6)

Bookmaker: Bet365