Ileana Sanchez
Dailysports's expert
Chelsea
Fulham
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On February 3, Stamford Bridge (London) will host the match of the 22nd round of the English Premier League, in which Chelsea will compete with Fulham. The battle will start at 21:00 CET.
Chelsea
The club is starting a rather curious month. Not every grandee can spend as much money as it has spent during the off-season. At the same time, the names of many newcomers are pretty questionable. It goes without saying that Badiashile, Enzo Fernández and Joao Felix had already got a success and a positive status in the top championships, but are Madueke, David Fofana, Gusto and, that is the most important, Mudryk, whose contract costs 70 million, ready to give the result “right here and right now”? To reach the higher mentioned goal is what the team needs, because it is necessary to win back the 10-point gap from the clubs that are in the top 4, and there is less than half of the season left for doing this. Nowadays, “the Aristocrats” are in the 10th place, which is a failure for them, and the situation definitely must be corrected. Still, there are doubts if Potter will be able to cope with it. Thus, it is of high importance to start February with a victory, fortunately, the opponent can be handled – the following rival is not a grandee, but a very strong club.
Fulham
The team is having, to be frank, an outstanding season. Everyone has already been accustomed to perceiving “the Cottagers” as an “elevator” – speaking about the previous years, their performance alternated between rising to the Premier League and relegation from it. The victory in the Championship in 2021/2022, being under the rule of Marco Silva, did not surprise anyone. Still, the Portuguese specialist and his wards did surprise in this Premier League season. It has already got more than 3 dozen points and, nowadays, there is no threat of relegation. Moreover, there is a real chance to break into the European competitions – “the Cottagers” are in the 7th position. Perhaps, having realized that the task for the season has been completed, the players will prefer to slow down and play out this season for their own pleasure. For instance, the cup battle with Sunderland was not won and, as a result, there will be a replay.
The statistics of head-to-head matches
Chelsea has not lost to its neighbour for more than a decade and a half, since 2006. But on January 12, Fulham won – moreover, it was Willian who scored in the struggle against his former team.
Predictions
The bookmakers think that it’s time for Chelsea to win. It is unlikely that Fulham will resist a lot – we recommend betting on the hosts’ victory (odd: 1.60).
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