For the second Saturday running Chelsea are in tea-time action, and on this occasion it’s a local affair. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton size up the SW6 derby…
TALKING POINTS
It is kind when the neighbours know you are having a bit of a rough time and pop straight round to see how you are. Unfortunately Fulham will not be knocking on the door on Saturday evening with a bottle of red, chocolate and compassion. At the same time, the Whites should prepare themselves just in case the greeting they receive is a bit brisk.
Chelsea’s home group stage defeat by a tenacious Basel, our first in the Champions League since the opening match of the 2003/4 campaign proper (an even more surprising 0-2 to Besiktas), follows the narrow league loss at Everton.
The squandered chances of Goodison were not so abundant against the Swiss, which will concern Jose Mourinho. Chelsea may not have a mountain to climb but the Swiss made the route to the knockout stage a little steeper and the Blues need a lift.
Although it is decades since we lost in this branch of the west London derby, Fulham have drawn four of their last seven at the Bridge, including the most recent two. We have not scored more than one home league goal against them since Christmas 2009.
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A win for under-pressure Martin Jol’s team would inflict a third successive defeat for the first time since May/August 2006, when the newly crowned Premier League champions slipped up in the final two league games against Blackburn and Newcastle and the Community Shield against Liverpool.
The last hat-trick of defeats when it mattered was in September/October 2002 when our failure at Viking Stavanger in the UEFA Cup was sandwiched between league losses at home to West Ham and away to Liverpool.
The Dutch coach has squeezed just one win from a dozen meetings with Chelsea at Tottenham and his current side. The victory came at White Hart Lane and against 10 men. He has drawn four of the others and taken nil points on seven occasions.
The most recent west London derby was in mid-April at the Cottage, the visitors running out easy 3-0 winners.
Jol’s men are finding goals equally hard to come by so far this season, notching three in four Premier League outings.
After just four matches no Premier League side can boast a perfect start. That is for the second successive season, but the previous four campaigns all had teams protecting a 100 per cent record at this stage. Are the stronger teams growing weaker or has the general standard improved?
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A win will put the Blues above both Manchester clubs, who play each other on Sunday. Chelsea then detour to Swindon Town (our first visit for 20 years) in the League Cup on Tuesday night before facing Tottenham away Saturday lunchtime.
Barclays Premier League fixtures
Saturday
Norwich v Aston Villa 12.45pm – BT Sport
Liverpool v Southampton 3pm
Newcastle v Hull 3pm
West Brom v Sunderland 3pm
West Ham v Everton 3pm
Chelsea v Fulham 5.30pm – Sky Sports
Sunday
Arsenal v Stoke 1.30pm – Sky Sports
Crystal Palace v Swansea 1.30pm
Cardiff v Tottenham 4pm
Manchester City v Manchester United 4pm – Sky Sports
| Top | Pld | Gd | Pts | |
| 1 | Liverpool | 4 | +3 | 10 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 4 | +3 | 9 |
| 3 | Tottenham |
4 |
+3 | 9 |
| 4 | Man City | 4 | +5 | 7 |
| 5 | Man Utd | 4 | +4 | 7 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 4 | +2 | 7 |
| 14 | Fulham | 4 | -2 | 4 |
CHELSEA STATS
In the Premier League Chelsea have won 28 points of the last 30 at Stamford Bridge.
| Aug 18 | Hull City (h) | W 2-0 |
| Aug 21 | Aston Villa (h) | W 2-1 |
| Aug 26 | Manchester United (a) | D 0-0 |
| Aug 30 | Bayern Munich (Super Cup) lost 4-5 on pens | D 2-2 |
| Sep 14 | Everton (a) | L 0-1 |
| Sep 18 | Basel (Champions League h) | L 1-2 |
Premier League scorers (4)
Ivanovic 1, Lampard 1, Oscar 1, own goal 1
League games since
A home win: 0
A home draw: 3
A home defeat: 11
| Tue 24 Sep | Swindon (Capital One Cup) away | 7.45pm |
| Sat 28 Sep | Tottenham away | 2.45pm |
| Tue 1 Oct | Steaua Bucharest (Champions League) away | 7.45pm |
MILESTONES
If selected, John Terry will captain Chelsea for the 450th occasion tonight.
Cesar Azpilicueta’s next appearance will be his 50th for Chelsea in all competitions.
FULHAM STATS
Formed 1879
Seventeen years ago at the end of the 1995/96 season Fulham were 17th in the Third Division (fourth tier), and in the next five seasons won three promotions including being champions of the Second and First Divisions. The Cottagers have never won a major trophy.
Fulham are in their 13th successive season in the Premier League which is the longest spell they have ever spent in the top flight.
Last season
Premier League -12th
FA Cup – Fourth round
Capital One Cup – Second round
Fulham have lost eight of their last 12 league games winning eight points from a possible 36.
Last season they didn’t win any of the 18 matches their opposition opening the scoring. They have lost both games (Newcastle and Arsenal) this has happened this term.
Last season the Cottagers won four of their 19 away games in the Premier League – at Wigan, West Brom, Tottenham and Swansea.
Manager Martin Jol
Days in charge: 837
Played 102
Won 35
Drawn 28
Lost 39
| Pts | Pos | |
| 2003/04 | 52 | 9th |
| 2004/05 | 44 | 13th |
| 2005/06 | 48 | 12th |
| 2006/07 | 39 | 16th |
| 2007/08 | 36 | 17th |
| 2008/09 | 53 | 7th |
| 2009/10 | 46 | 12th |
| 2010/11 | 49 | 8th |
| 2011/12 | 52 | 9th |
| 2012/13 | 43 | 12th |
| Aug 18 | Hull City (h) | W 2-0 |
| Aug 21 | Aston Villa (h) | W 2-1 |
| Aug 26 | Manchester United (a) | D 0-0 |
| Aug 30 | Bayern Munich (Super Cup) lost 4-5 on pens | D 2-2 |
| Sep 14 | Everton (a) | L 0-1 |
| Sep 18 | Basel (Champions League h) | L 1-2 |
Premier League scorers (3)
Bent 1, Kasami 1, Sidwell 1.
League games since
An away win: 1
An away draw: 4
An away defeat: 0
FULHAM’S MAJOR SUMMER MOVES AND AUTUMN LOANS
Ins Derek Boateng (Dnipro, free), Fernando Amorebieta (Athletic Bilbao, free), Maarten Stekelenburg (Roma, undisclosed), Giorgos Karagounis (unattached), Sascha Riether (Cologne, £1.2m), Adel Taarabt (QPR, loan), Darren Bent (Aston Villa, loan), Scott Parker (Tottenham, undisclosed), Elsad Zverotic (Young Boys Bern, undisclosed)
Outs Chris Baird (released), Simon Davies (released), Mahamadou Diarra (released), Mladen Petric (released, now West Ham), Mark Schwarzer (released, now Chelsea), Csaba Somogyi (released), Danny Hoesen (Ajax, undisclosed)
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Andre Marriner is refereeing his first Chelsea game since our defeat at the Etihad against Manchester City in February.
OTHERWISE ENGAGED
There are no suspensions.
– Visit again tomorrow for Part Two of the Briefing.