Fulham vs Chelsea LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight after Joao Felix red card
Fulham 2-1 Chelsea: Joao Felix sent off on Chelsea debut as Blues come unstuck at Craven Cottage
Graham Potter was left with more questions than answers as his Chelsea side slumped to another defeat in the Premier League when they travelled to Craven Cottage on Thursaday evening. With just one win in nine matches the Blues welcomed a trip to Fulham who haven’t beaten them in the league since 2006, but things didn’t turn out the way they’d planned.
The home side were positive and controlled in possession, often pushing high up the pitch out of it and from the off it looked like Chelsea were in for a fight. Willian, a former blue who spent seven years at Stamford Bridge, opened the scoring in the first half. He brought down a cross into the box and after cutting inside saw his deflected effort bobble into the far bottom corner.
Chelsea’s new signing Joao Felix threatened throughout and the momentum almost turned when Kalidou Koulibaly equalised after half-time. Felix had a rush of blood though and dove into a silly challenge earning himself a straight red card which sealed Chelsea’s fate.
At 1-1 there was still work to do for the home side but Andreas Pereira stepped up and lifting a pinpoint cross onto the head of Carlos Vinicius to secure all three points for the Cottagers.
Relive all the action as Fulham host Chelsea at Craven Cottage:
Graham Potter says Chelsea manager is the ‘hardest job in football’
Graham Potter believes he has the hardest job in football as Chelsea labour to get to grips with their “new chapter” since Todd Boehly bought the club.
The team have struggled in the wake of being sold by Roman Abramovich, who brought unprecedented success during his nearly two decades in control, with a huge transfer outlay sanctioned by Boehly during the last six months yet to pay off.
Chelsea are 10th in the Premier League despite having spent nearly £350million since the American took control, with supporters singing the name of Abramovich and former head coach Thomas Tuchel during Sunday’s 4-0 defeat at Manchester City in the FA Cup third round.
Graham Potter says Chelsea manager is the ‘hardest job in football’
The Blues have struggled in the wake of being sold by Roman Abramovich
Under-fire Chelsea manager Graham Potter accepts frustrated fans need to see more
Graham Potter admits Chelsea must improve after their heavy FA Cup defeat to Manchester City, as he came under fire for leading the club to just two wins in nine games.
“The results in a small space of time are not positive,” he said.
“You can make excuses and look for reasons or say it isn’t good enough. Both of those answers are correct.
“We have to keep improving and stick together because clearly we are suffering as a football club and it’s not nice at all. But that’s where we are at the moment.”
Fulham focused on beating the drop and not dreaming of Europe
Boss Marco Silva vowed Fulham were focused on beating the drop and not Europe after Aleksandar Mitrovic sunk Leicester.
The Cottagers sit seventh in the Premier League after reaching 28 points – the same amount they were relegated with two years ago – following Tuesday night’s narrow 1-0 win.
Mitrovic’s 11th goal of the season also equalled his best Premier League tally, although a fifth booking means he will miss next week’s visit of Chelsea.
Fulham are 14 points clear of the bottom three but Silva insisted they must stay out of trouble.
Marco Silva: Fulham focused on beating the drop and not dreaming of Europe
Fulham have already equalled their points tally from their last top-flight campaign.
Fulham ‘not thinking’ about European football
Fulham captain Tom Cairney explained to the BBC that his team aren’t aiming too high and thinking about finishing the season inside the European spots but are instead focused on making sure they stay in the top flight after winning promotion from the Championship last year.
“That’s not in our mind at all,” he said when asked about Europe, “We’re not thinking about European football, at all. It’s not in our mindset, the aim for any newly-promoted side is to stay in the Premier League.”
Cairney went on to speak about what he’s expecting from tonight’s clash with Chelsea and whether his side can defeat the Blues.
"We’re above them in the table right now, but it doesn’t mean a lot," Cairney added. "They’ve got a lot of strength in depth. They can turn it on at any point. It’s going to be a tough, tough match at the Cottage."
Fulham vs Chelsea prediction
Chelsea have a 10-year winning run in this fixture so it comes at a good time for Graham Potter’s struggling side.
They’ll feel confident of overcoming Fulham despite being away from home but Marco Silva has his team playing with confidence and aggression so they’ll bite back at whatever Chelsea throw their way which should make for an interesting contest.
Fulham 1-1 Chelsea.
Fulham vs Chelsea predicted line-ups
Fulham: Leno; Tete, Ream, Adarabioyo, Robinson; Reed, Palhinha; De Cordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Vinicius
Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Koulibaly, Silva, Cucurella; Kovacic, Zakaria, Jorginho; Ziyech, Havertz, Mount
Christian Pulisic faces two months out injured, confirms Chelsea boss Graham Potter
Chelsea boss Graham Potter has confirmed that he will be without two forwards for up to two months, just as the Blues confirm the capture on loan of Joao Felix.
Christian Pulisic faces eight weeks on the sidelines after departing the recent defeat to Manchester City - and Raheem Sterling, who went off in the same game, could be absent for almost as long.
The Blues will at least have striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang available, but they are still awaiting to hear whether or not new arrival Felix has been registered in time to face Fulham on Thursday night.
Pulisic faces two months out injured, confirms Chelsea boss Potter
The signing of Joao Felix on loan boosts attacking options at a time when the Premier League side will be without two key forwards
What is the early team news?
Fulham will be without top-scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic. The striker picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Leicester and serves a one-match suspension. Shane Duffy has not yet recovered from illness, while Neeskens Kebano remains a long-term injury absentee.
Chelsea will have Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang available after a back injury, but Christian Pulisic is still a couple of months away from returning and Raheem Sterling is also not close to a comeback. Ben Chilwell, Reuben Loftus-Cheek, Reece James and N’Golo Kante remain out, while the club are waiting to hear whether new signing Joao Felix was registered in time to feature.
How to watch Fulham vs Chelsea
The match will kick off at 8pm BST on Thursday 12 January.
The match will be shown live on BT Sport 1, with coverage starting at 7pm BST. BT Sport customers can also stream the match live on the BT Sport app and website.
Fulham vs Chelsea
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Premier League action as Fulham host Chelsea at Craven Cottage.
Marco Silva’s men are seventh in the table after a four game unbeaten run following the return of domestic football after the World Cup. They’ve West Ham, Crystal Palace and Southampton before Aleksandar Mitrovic’s first half strike saw them ease past Leicester 1-0 last time out. Fulham will jump ahead of Liverpool into sixth if they are triumphant tonight and will be confident of overcoming Graham Potter’s struggling Blues.
Chelsea have won just once in their last nine league matches which is a run that has seen them slip to 10th in the table. There is pressure on the manager with fans chanting out for former boss Thomas Tuchel during the Blues’ recent defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup.
Chelsea have a strong record against Fulham and should be the favourites to win tonight but their form is poor and they’re away from home so this could be another difficult night for Potter’s side.
Kick off at Craven Cottage is at 8pm and we’ll have all the build-up, team news and updates leading up to the game.
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