Chelsea v Fulham Tips: Expect a cagey affair at Stamford Bridge on Friday

It was another eventful transfer window for Chelsea, who have now spent £566m on new players since Todd Boehly’s consortium completed its takeover last May. That is an extraordinary outlay and one which has produced as many questions as answers so far.

On the pitch, however, manager Graham Potter will hope that the recent arrivals help to spark Chelsea into a life after a difficult first half of the season. The Blues have ground to make up in the race for European qualification, although a 10-point gap to the top four means the Champions League will surely be beyond them.

Scoring goals has been an issue all season, and it will surely take some time for Chelsea to improve in that regard. Only two of their last 12 Premier League games have featured three or more goals and Friday’s encounter could follow the same pattern, so backing under 2.5 goals looks an attractive proposition at 1.99.

Can January signings make their mark? 

It is hard to predict Chelsea’s starting squad for this match - I’m not even sure that Potter knows at this point! What we do know is that Atletico Madriad loanee Joao Felix is suspended after being sent off against Fulham last month, while this game may come too soon for Enzo Fernandez following his deadline-day move from Benfica.

On the other hand, Ukrainian Mykhailo Mudryk could be in contention to appear from the first whistle here. He impressed as a second-half substitute against Liverpool in Chelsea’s last game, and it would be a surprise if Potter didn’t want to immediately showcase his quickness and latent talent. 

Mudryk scored 10 goals in 18 appearances for Shakhtar Donetsk earlier this season, and he should be able to cause Fulham problems. As a result, I’m keen to back him in the anytime goalscorer market at 2.64.

Expect a defensive start

Chelsea have struggled to make fast starts in their matches this term - they have scored first-half goals on just nine occasions this season. It is a shortcoming that Potter will have to address if Chelsea are to climb back into the top six. 

Fulham, too, tend to come on stronger after half-time. Marco Silva’s men have scored 20 goals after the break, compared to 12 in the first interval. The Cottagers are having an excellent campaign and they will arrive at Stamford Bridge with the belief that they can pick up a positive result, but 0-0 at half-time would suit them - especially as the home crowd could start to grow restless. 

All things considered, this game is more likely to open up late in the day and therefore backing the second half to be higher scoring than the first is interesting at odds of 2. 

Chelsea v Fulham Tips 

Under 2.5 goals @ 1.99
Mykhailo Mudryk anytime goalscorer @ 2.64 
Second half highest scoring @ 2