PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: CHELSEA V FULHAM
It is once more down to the Bridge for our second home game in four days. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton look local…
TALKING POINTS
Although Chelsea lost ground to former boss Steve Clarke's West Bromwich Albion by drawing with Manchester City, a draw and a clean sheet against the English champions was a creditable result.
That was the Blues' first Premier League shutout since the same scoreline at QPR in mid-September.
Only Wigan and Southampton have conceded more than one goal in a league game more often than Martin Jol's Fulham team, who have managed it eight times. Only the Saints and QPR have conceded more total goals than the Whites' 23 in 13 games.
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KEY STAT |
Fulham's defensive capacity is compromised further by the loss of centre-back Brede Hangeland, red-carded in the shock 1-3 home defeat by Sunderland a fortnight ago (pictured below).
With Didier Drogba's favourite defender Philippe Senderos instead of the influential skipper, Fulham fell 0-1 to Stoke at the weekend - a simple tap-in from a Peter Crouch knockdown.
New manager Rafael Benîtez will be keen to build on the solidity of Sunday by increasing Chelsea's firepower in front of the opposition goal.
Three shots on target in the two games against Juventus and City has to improve if the Blues are to improve on a record of two wins in the last nine matches in all competitions. That sequence includes four defeats.
This is the first of two London derbies in four days, with the Boleyn Ground the venue when west meets east on Saturday. Chelsea are the only unbeaten side in capital clashes so far this season; Fulham have not won either of their derby matches.
| Premier London League | |||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Arsenal | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 10 |
| Chelsea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 7 |
| West Ham | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Tottenham | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 6 |
| Fulham | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| QPR | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
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KEY TWEET |
By the time you read this, the 250,000,000th spectator is likely to have passed through the turnstiles of a Barclays Premier League match.
In 20 years since the opening day, Saturday 15 August 1992, Chelsea have recorded the fifth highest total home attendance: 13,710,252. The only clubs with higher aggregates are Manchester United (24,322,356), Arsenal (17,036,537), Liverpool (16,491,290) and Newcastle (15,878,733).
Back in 1913/14 and 1919/20 Chelsea were the first British club to break the 30,000 and 40,000 barriers for average home attendances, so the current figures reflect consistently high crowds over the last century.
To celebrate the 250m landmark, four Chelsea fans have the chance to win an 'ultimate matchday experience'.
Barclays are launching a 'Find the Fan' competition to reward a supporter and three friends from each of the 20 clubs with a VIP trip to see their team in a Barclays Premier League match, including hospitality and first class travel and accommodation.
Photographers will be at all 20 fixtures on November 24 and 25, and 27 and 28, and will be taking exclusive pictures of both home and away fans on the matchdays to find a fan from each club to represent the 250 million fans. The images will be uploaded onto the Barclays Football Face.book site
Fans will be asked to identify themselves to be eligible for the VIP prize draw.
Barclays Premier League fixtures
Wednesday
Chelsea v Fulham 7.45pm
Everton v Arsenal 7.45pm
Southampton v Norwich 7.45pm
Stoke v Newcastle 7.45pm
Swansea v West Brom 7.45pm
Tottenham v Liverpool 7.45pm
Manchester United v West Ham 8.00pm
Wigan v Manchester City 8.00pm - Sky Sports
| Barclays Premier League table half | ||||
| Pld | Gd | Pts | ||
| 1 | Man Utd | 13 | +14 | 30 |
| 2 | Man City | 13 | +15 | 29 |
| 3 | West Brom | 13 | +8 | 26 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 13 | +11 | 25 |
| 5 | Everton | 13 | +6 | 21 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 13 | +10 | 20 |
| 7 | Tottenham | 13 | +1 | 20 |
| 8 | West Ham | 13 | +1 | 19 |
| 9 | Swansea | 13 | +2 | 17 |
| 10 | Fulham | 13 | +2 | 16 |
Click on tabs above for more briefing.
