Chelsea vs Fulham LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Blues held to goalless draw
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham: Graham Potter’s side were held by the well-organised visitors as January’s record-breaking spending failed to lead to attacking inspiration
Enzo Fernandez’s Chelsea debut ended in anti-climax as Fulham earned a worthy 0-0 draw against Graham Potter’s side at Stamford Bridge.
The hosts’ £106.5million deadline day signing was kept largely subdued as Potter’s team failed to substantially improve upon their mid-table Premier League position and saw their indifferent form extend to one win in six in the competition.
Fulham proved it is not necessary to spend in excess of £500m to sit in the upper reaches of the top flight, with Marco Silva’s well-drilled team making the hosts look toothless at times at the end of a week in which they broke the British transfer record to land World Cup-winner Fernandez.
It leaves Chelsea stranded in ninth and already struggling to hold on to the optimism generated by owner Todd Boehly’s whirlwind £315m investment during the January transfer window.
Follow all the action as Chelsea host Fulham at Stamford Bridge:
Graham Potter reveals Chelsea ‘ambition’ after record transfer window
Graham Potter has described circumstances at Chelsea so far this season as “sub-optimal” but says it is now an “exciting” time for the club after an expenditure of over £300m in the January transfer window.
The Stamford Bridge boss said he does not think Chelsea’s record-breaking spending “will continue as it has” - but the caveat to that is he felt similar before the British record signing of Enzo Fernandez from Benfica.
Potter did admit that he has been faced with “tough decisions” in selecting the 25-man squad for the Champions League squad, but described the club’s general policy as a “regeneration” that is also aimed to deliver results now.
It does increase the pressure on a group that finds itself 10th in the Premier League table despite Chelsea’s transfer business, amid a series of injuries and changes as Potter himself has adjusted to a new club.
Graham Potter reveals Chelsea ‘ambition’ after record transfer window
Potter also praised record signing Enzo Fernandez and dimissed suggestions that his £106m price was a ‘gamble’
Fulham’s fantastic start
Fulham are one short of equalling the club Premier League record of five away victories in a season, set in 2003/04.
They are vying to win a fourth top-flight London derby for the first time in a single campaign.
Can Potter turn around Chelsea’s fortunes?
Chelsea have only won two of their last 11 league games under Graham Potter, earning 10 points and scoring just seven goals.
They are winless in all nine Premier League matches this season against the teams currently above them in the table. Fulham are seventh, two points above the Blues.
Chelsea spending a show of ‘power and ambition’ to Premier League rivals, says Marco Silva
Marco Silva believes Chelsea’s flurry of signings in the January transfer window shows their “power” and “ambition” as a force within English football.
The Blues were the biggest spenders during the January transfer window, as Todd Boehly’s consortium shelled out in excess of £300million including a British record deal for Enzo Fernandez.
Graham Potter has bolstered his options with the arrival of £106.8m Fernandez from Benfica as well as Mykhailo Mudryk, who arrived for £88.5m from Shakhtar Donetsk, and Joao Felix among others.
Silva believes the amount of money spent by Fulham’s local rivals, ahead of the meeting between the two sides at Stamford Bridge on Friday, is not a new phenomenon.
Chelsea spending a show of ‘power and ambition’ to Premier League rivals
Fulham’s local rivals spent in excess of £300million during the recent transfer window
Chelsea vs Fulham team changes
Graham Potter makes three changes to the Chelsea team that drew 0-0 with Liverpool in their previous outing. Trevoh Chalobah and Lewis Hall drop out and Jorginho has joined Arsenal in the January transfer window.
In come Reece James, Mykhailo Mudryk and new signing Enzo Fernandez makes his debut.
Marco Silva meanwhile names an unchanged Fulham team to the one that lost to Tottenham last time out.
Chelsea vs Fulham line-ups
Chelsea XI: Arrizabalaga, James, Thiago Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella, Gallagher, Fernanez, Mount, Ziyech, Havertz, Mudryk
Fulham XI: Leno, Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson, Palhinha, Reed, Pereira, De Cordova-Reid, Mitrovic, Willian
Chelsea vs Fulham
Chelsea are unbeaten in all 15 Premier League home matches against Fulham, winning 2-0 in each of the three most recent encounters.
Is tonight a formality or can Fulham pull off a shock win?
Football’s landmark moment and how white paper can change game forever
In the discussions to inform next week’s white paper on football, many stakeholders were attempting to get the government to understand this is much more than a “once a generation” moment.
They described it as possibly the only opportunity to properly assess the English game and where it’s going, since nothing like this has ever been done before. It is quite a thought, that illustrates the “enormity” of what this government are taking on. In 160 years of codified English football, there has never been anything like an attempt at a holistic assessment of the sport and what it should look like.
Even events since the Super League, like Chelsea’s spending, illustrate it is now more important than ever. There are reservations within the game over whether Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Michelle Donelan gets this, as eyebrows were raised over recent statements and questions.
The landmark moment that can change football forever
Next week’s government white paper on football is a landmark moment for the sport as it looks to safeguard its future
Chelsea vs Fulham
Fulham won the reverse fixture 2-1 at Craven Cottage on 12th January and can do the double over Chelsea for the first time. This is the 38th season they have been in the same division.
The Cottagers have only managed two victories in 37 away league games against Chelsea: 2-1 in the top flight in March 1964 and 2-0 in the second tier in October 1979.
Potter’s big decisions
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been left out of Chelsea’s squad for the Champions League knockout stages with new signings Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix all included.
Aubameyang started all the Blues’ six group matches, scoring two goals, but Chelsea’s January spend meant that the Blues had to cut some members of their large squad to abide by Champions League rules.
France defender Benoit Badiashile, a £35m January signing, also misses out as does England Under-21s winger Noni Madueke and fellow new arrivals Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana.
That’s a lot of money spent on players who won’t feature in Europe this season. Will the decision to leave them out help or hinder Graham Potter?
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