Chelsea vs. Fulham: A game of Many Faces

Chelsea versus Fulham normally should be a no brainer in seeing the Blues as obvious favorites even before a whistle is blown.

However, owing to recent form and inconsistency on the pitch side, saying ‘no one’ has a clue on what to expect from this game, would be an understatement.

The Blues currently sit in a corner where putting in a good performance or not, no longer guaranties them a win.

Since the start of the current campaign, a recurring theme that has faced Chelsea is the fact that they have chalked out a considerable number of good performances, created in the league the most chances yet, for some reason still find itself languishing in 10th place.

They have of course had some positive results where they get to finish those chances they create, but as the inconsistent season drags, those games have rather gone to become the exception.

In Fulham’s case, sitting 13th and four points behind their Fulham neighbors, Chelsea speaks more to their game management than their attacking threat.

So far, the Cottagers have been able to pull out some impressive feats this season, drawing to and beating Arsenal recently to doom the Gunners to a 4th place standing.

Marco Silva’s side in addition to that, have stolen a 5-0 back to back win against West Ham United and Nottingham Forest, also in the premier league, and on double occasions, almost seeing out a win against Liverpool.

However, unlike Chelsea, Fulham’s issues lies on a poor defensive set up that has allowed them to chalk more goals than they previously did.

Now, this makes the tie versus the Blues all the more interesting, considering Chelsea have a conversion rate problem as opposed to a Fulham whose flaw is conceding goals they normally wouldn’t be.

In a game where the Blues are struggling to finish off the chances they create, and a leaky Fulham defense, the question ends up being; ‘who has the better advantage heading into the clash?’.

Of course, the Blues despite conceding goals themselves, will boast of having a better defensive shape compared to their West-London neighbors, and while they can stall out whatever attacks the Cottagers throw at them, the test still falls on them to take their own chances.