Chelsea vs Fulham Preview

September 20, 2013
By: Deke Hardman

Torres

Saturday’s late kick off in the Premier League sees out of form Chelsea welcome local rivals Fulham to Stamford Bridge.

The hosts go in to the game on the back of three straight losses, including their defeat on penalties to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup, and Wednesday evening’s shock result against FC Basel in their Champions League opener.

On a more positive note, manager Jose Mourinho still has a fully fit squad to select from, though he could well make changes to the side that lost in midweek.

At 4.5 (7/2) with a variety of firms, Samuel Eto’o is favourite to open the scoring with what would be his first goal for the club, while fellow strikers Demba Ba and Fernando Torres are both priced at 5.5 (9/2) with William Hill.

Despite their lack of form, the Blues are odds on to return to winning ways with William Hill offering the best price of 1.33 (1/3), while Fulham are 12.0 (11/1) shots with the same firm. The draw is a generous 5.75 (19/4) with Bet 365.

Fulham drew with West Bromwich Albion last time out, and are without a win in the league since the opening day of the season.

Darren Bent is available, while Dimitar Berbatov will face a late fitness test ahead of the game though Bryan Ruiz, Aaron Hughes, Matthew Briggs and Maarten Stekelenburg all miss out.

Bent is certainly worth considering in the first goal scorers market at a hefty 17.0 (16/1) with Bet Victor, as is Adel Taarabt at 26.0 (25/1).

Chelsea ran out 3-0 winners when the sides met at Craven Cottage back in April, but last season’s corresponding fixture and the four meetings between the sides prior to it ended all square.

Three of those games were goalless, and you can back another 0-0 score-line at 17.0 (16/1) with Bet Victor, who price the 1-1 draw at 12.0 (11/1).

However, you may prefer to take advantage of Bet Victor’s extremely generous offer of 81.0 (80/1) for Darren Bent to score first, and the score to finish 1-1.

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