Nkunku has looked great when he’s played for Chelsea. But that’s not very often and the rest of the forward line has struggled, to say the least. Good luck finding a striker in January.
Ahead of this one, and considering the continental competitions taking place, here’s out weekend digest.
For Fulham, Harrison Reed took a knock at Anfield and is benched in favour of Tom Cairney. Kenny Tete replaces Timothy Castagne at left-back and Harry Wilson starts ahead of Bobby De Cordova-Reid. That’s an attacking lineup.
Armando Broja, benched at Middlesbrough, leads the attack for Chelsea. Cole Palmer, false No 9 up on Teesside will play out wide. Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka are subs. No Romeo Lavia or Christopher Nkunku.
Chelsea: Petrovic, Gusto, Disasi, Thiago Silva, Colwill, Caicedo, Fernandez, Sterling, Palmer, Gallagher, Broja. Subs: Badiashile, Mudryk, Madueke, Bettinelli, Chukwuemeka, Chilwell, Deivid Washington, Gilchrist, Bergstrom.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Adarabioyo, Diop, Robinson, Joao Palhinha, Cairney, Wilson, Andreas Pereira, Willian, Jimenez. Subs: Rodak, Reed, Ream, De Cordova-Reid, Castagne, Lukic, Vinicius, Francois, Rodrigo Muniz.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Hopefully, Poch and Caicedo have now worked out that Brighton did not play Middlesbrough last season. Or that Boro have not beaten a Premier League team this season or last.
Pochettino: "Other Premier League teams have lost to Middlesbrough. Moises Caicedo was telling me, 'oh, last season we lost at Middlesbrough with Brighton'. A lot of Premier League teams when they play there, they lose."
— John Brewin (@JohnBrewin_) January 12, 2024
The west London derby, the one where Fulham travel elsewhere in Fulham to play Chelsea. Both clubs are coming off midweek Carabao Cup defeats, Fulham with rather more honour than Chelsea. Mauricio Pochettino is under pressure, even if club suits say not. His is the most disjointed squad in a division that contains Manchester United. Fulham, rather more coherent, have a chance of driving further pain into their neighbours. Fulham have won just one of the past 23 Premier League meetings, but it was last January, a 2-1 win at home. Chelsea have not been good at home, and are staring down four matches without a win if they don’t beat the Cottagers. Fulham meanwhile want to avoid a fifth successive away win, and have won away all season. A battle of the hopeless and feckless? Perhaps that makes for high entertainment.
Kick-off at 12.30pm. Join me.