Team news (via Sky Sports)
Reece James and Andreas Christensen are back in training after recovering from their injuries. N'Golo Kante has also overcome his issue but will not feature against Fulham due to a suspension.
Fulham's captain Tom Cairney has a knee issue, while Aleksandar Mitrovic had a slight problem during last week's game against QPR. Mario Lemina is not expected to feature, but Kenny Tete, Terence Kongolo and Josh Onomah are back in the squad.
Stats to know (via Opta)
- Fulham have won just one of their 28 Premier League matches against Chelsea (10 draws, 17 defeats).
- In all competitions, Chelsea have lost just one of their last 19 away matches against Fulham (12 wins, 6 draws).
- Fulham have won just 3 out of 50 games against Chelsea in the top flight which equals 6 per cent of all games, the lowest win percentage among all the other match-ups that were played at least 50 times.
- Chelsea have lost 4 of their last 6 Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 23 in the competition (14 wins, 5 draws).
Predicted line-up
Match predictions
Lewis Jones, Sky Sports: Fulham 0-2 Chelsea
"It's really difficult to see how Fulham, who have only won two of their last 16 Premier League games, will stop Lampard's side down the flanks; an area where Tottenham absolutely battered them on Wednesday night.
"Ben Chilwell, Reece James, a rejuvenated Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic are dynamite on the overload and possess the quality to seriously hurt Fulham. Whoever plays centre-forward for Chelsea should get chances to feast on."
Ben McAleer, WhoScored: Fulham 1-2 Chelsea
"Fulham should certainly be optimistic heading into the weekend but they have a woeful record against Chelsea. They have only won one of their 28 Premier League encounters with their local rivals. Nevertheless, Fulham should make this uncomfortable for Frank Lampard's side."
Managers' quotes
Frank Lampard (via Chelsea FC): "It’s an exciting fixture. I always felt it had an extra edge to it. It has a different relationship to other derbies, Fulham were sometimes in the Premier League, sometimes not, but when they came they had a feeling of wanting to beat us.
"Without fans it takes a slight edge off things, but mentally as players and as a club we should retain that passion of what this game means. Fulham are playing well, they played very well last night against Tottenham, they could have won. That’s been their recent form."
Scott Parker (via Fulham FC): "It’s a good time for us to be playing any team. I feel we’re in a good place, I feel like confidence is high in the squad, I feel like there’s a group of players here who are starting to feel their worth in this division.
"It’s a tough game against an exceptionally good team in Chelsea, a famous team, but in saying that, we’re in a good place. Saturday we’ll go and give them a game and hopefully get something out of it. We approach every game like that, no matter what the challenge, we’ll always try and put our stamp on the game."
