Both teams hope to put adverse domestic cup results behind them as Chelsea and Fulham return to Premier League action at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Blues were embarrassingly bounced from the third round of the FA Cup at the hands of Championship side Middlesbrough on Tuesday, unable to find the back of the net in a 1-0 defeat despite ripping off 18 shots worth 2.17 xG.
While Fulham managed to brush past Rotherham United in their FA Cup meeting earlier in the week, the Cottagers were pegged back in the first leg of their EFL Cup semifinal tie with Liverpool, coughing up a 1-0 halftime lead in a 2-1 defeat.
In the league standings, the two sides sit just four points apart, with the Whites able to claw within a single point of the Blues if they should win here. Chelsea, meanwhile, could leap into eighth above Newcastle and Manchester United with victory of their own.
USA: Click here to see the latest odds for Chelsea vs Fulham and bet Premier League matches
Chelsea creates chances in droves, as evident against Middlesbrough, but the Blues are one of the Premier League's worst finishing teams, sporting a -7.96 goals/xG differential which stands as the third-worst in the EPL.
What is a poor finishing team's worst nightmare? A great goalkeeper, which they'll meet in Fulham shot-stopper Bernd Leno. The German was the Premier League's second-best goalkeeper last season behind only Alisson of Liverpool, and this season he is putting in another great shift, his latest heroics coming against Liverpool as he kept the Reds from running up the score late in their EFL Cup first leg.
Still, it's hard to imagine this Blues team continuing to be thwarted in front of net as they rack up chances in droves. They put two past Fulham in their
Read on sportingnews.com