FULHAM face Chelsea in Saturday evening’s Premier League clash and Ben Ragg (@Punters_Corner_) is on-hand to deliver his favourite fancies.
Fulham vs Chelsea | Saturday 16th January 2021, 17:30 | Sky Sports
The Saturday early evening kick off sees Chelsea travel to West London neighbours Fulham for what looks to be an intriguing encounter.
Many tipped Fulham to go down at the start of this season and whilst they are still 3rd favourites for relegation at 11/10, they have shown real signs of improvement in recent weeks and after their promising performance on Wednesday night against Tottenham where both teams had chances to win it.
Fulham have now drawn 5 matches in a row in the league and haven’t won since late November but they have turned in some good performances since switching to a back 5 and have been a lot more defensively solid conceding just 3 goals in their last 6 in all competitions.
Fulham will be without Loftus-Cheek for this one with him being ineligible against his parent club and Ademola Lookman will likely deputise. He came off the bench on Wednesday and was a threat throughout and provided an assist for Cavaleiro’s goal.
Fulham are growing in confidence as the season goes on and I am sure Scott Parker’s men will fancy their chances of getting something out of this game for sure.
Chelsea on the other hand, have come in for a lot criticism recently, turning in some lacklustre performances by their standards and the pressure is certainly on Frank Lampard given the amount of money he spent in the summer. Chelsea have won just one of their last 6 in the league and are enduring a real sticky spell after being tipped as title contenders before the hectic festive period
German pair Timo Werner and Kai Havertz have yet to prove their worth after arriving for hefty sums and have both been utilised in several positions as Lampard tries to find the best one for both of them.
The first angle I like for this game is in the Asian Handicap market with Fulham +1.0 priced at 10/11. This means if Fulham win or draw then it’s a winner and if they lose by 1 goal then money back. This bet has only lost once since September and that was against Man City. Given Fulham’s recent defensive improvement and Chelsea’s recent struggles this looks a really nice price at just below evens.
The next bet I like is in the shots market with Fulham priced at 1/1 for 10+ shots with Bet365. Fulham average 11.6 shots per game at home this season with Chelsea conceding an average of 10.6 shots pg. This has landed for Chelsea’s opponents in 4 of their last 5 matches. Fulham have landed 10+ shots in 6 of their last 7 home matches in the league and with their confidence rising 10+ shots looks a decent bet.
The final bet is a longshot based on the price, but I feel is worth a small stakes play. Cavaleiro will start up front on Saturday and looked very sharp in the week against Spurs and scored a very good header. Cavaleiro to bag another header on Saturday is a whopping 49/1 with BetVictor so will have a punt on that just in case it lands again.
Best Bets
Fulham vs Chelsea – Fulham +1 Asian Handicap (10/11 Unibet)
Fulham vs Chelsea – Fulham 10+ shots (1/1 Bet365)
Fulham vs Chelsea – Ivan Cavaleiro to score a header (49/1 BetVictor)
