Chelsea fans are entitled to feel pretty good about things at the moment. In the last few weeks, the Blues have beaten the best side in the country to book their place in another FA Cup final, won at top-four rivals West Ham in a classic six-pointer and put themselves in the driving seat with an away goal in their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.
With all that going on it would be easy to see this weekend’s West London derby against Fulham as a distraction, but that would be very dangerous indeed.
What’s so important about Chelsea’s game against Fulham? How did the reverse fixture pan out?
The last time Chelsea played Fulham the Blues were in a very different place, but the performance was poor. They were lucky to come away with three points, eventually secured by an excellent Mason Mount goal after an Antonee Robinson red card.
Relief for Chelsea, but was it harsh on Fulham?
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) January 17, 2021
With the second leg against Real Madrid coming up on Wednesday night and having played the same eleven against the Spanish side as he did against West Ham, there’s a good chance that Thomas Tuchel will rotate his side this weekend. Players who haven’t seen a whole lot of action recently, such as Billy Gilmour, are likely to feature.
I asked Tuchel if Gilmour is likely to see some minutes with Kovacic injured and Chelsea facing a brutal schedule. He says it could come as soon as Fulham but the decision won't be made until game day #CFC
— Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) April 30, 2021
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Tuchel has selected 26 different players in his matchday squads so far at Chelsea, and has shown that he isn’t afraid to rotate, but it hasn’t always been a success. He made six changes before the Leeds game, which ended 0-0 and was definitely two points dropped.
Although there isn’t necessarily a problem with rotating the side (Pep Guardiola does it more than anyone), Chelsea will be keen to avoid a disjointed performance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. To lose any of the momentum they’ve worked so hard to create would be disastrous given the fixtures that follow.
Chelsea’s run of games after Fulham are against Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal, Leicester City twice (including an FA Cup final) and Aston Villa. They’ve done so well to pick up ahead of steam and must ensure that doesn’t come crumbling down against a Fulham team fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table.
A good performance and result in a London derby would be just the way to kick-start their run-in, but anything else could seriously damage their hopes for silverware.