Here are your betting guide and tips for the Premier League game between Chelsea and Fulham
Well, it seems as though the Blues won’t be hoisting any domestic trophies at the end of the 2022/23 campaign after being bounced from the FA Cup by Manchester City over the weekend. The loss, which finished 4-0, was one of the most spineless performances I can remember from a Chelsea side in quite some time.
The defenders were indecisive, the midfielders were weak, and the forwards couldn’t even string together a single coherent attacking movement. With only one shot on target logged during the entire 90’, it’s clear that the front line has no solution to its season-long ineptitude.
And while the Citizens are probably the best team in the English football pyramid, the 5-0 aggregate scoreline between them and the club from the capital over the past two matches is shocking and inexcusable. It’s becoming clearer with each passing contest just how far away Chelsea is from truly competing at the top of the Premier League.
Despite the dark cloud hovering ominously over Stamford Bridge at the moment, Todd Boehly and the club hierarchy continue to throw money at their problems. The Blues have signed Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix on loan for the remainder of the season and are rumored to be scouting Borussia Monchengladbach striker Marcus Thuram and Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk, among others.
I doubt Chelsea’s 2022/23 campaign can be salvaged, regardless of how many reinforcements are brought into the club in January, so I don’t fully understand the spending spree currently being enacted by ownership.
Regardless of my own opinion about the transfer situation, Graham Potter and his misfit squad will travel across the city to face Fulham on Thursday in desperate need of a victory. If the team can’t take all three points from the clash, I’ll seriously start to worry about where the Blues will reside on the final table.
Looking at potential bets for this London derby, I get the feeling that the oddsmakers are finally starting to recognize how poorly Chelsea has been playing over the past few months.
The pride has won one Premier League contest since the end of October and, even more embarrassingly, has only scored a single goal against a top-half side in that same period. Abysmal isn’t a strong enough word to describe the Blues’ current form.
Fulham, on the other hand, is hotter than just about any other English team at the moment. The Cottagers have won every match they’ve partaken in since the end of the World Cup, rattling off three straight league victories and an FA Cup triumph with an aggregate scoreline of 8-1.
They sit 7th in the EPL and boast an extremely potent attack led by veteran marksman Aleksandar Mitrovic. Fortunately for Chelsea’s back line, Mitro will miss the game due to suspension. His 11 goals trail only Haaland, Kane, and Toney in the race for the golden boot, so there’s no doubt the Serbian’s teammates will be missing his physical presence at striker. Fulham +1 at -150 is still a pretty solid play, though, in my opinion.
A second bet I have my eye on is the away team to score under 1.5 goals at -136. This has hit in seven of the Blues’ nine road Premier League games this season, underlying how awful the former European champs have been away from Stamford Bridge.
I don’t know who Potter will deploy as the three forwards, but none of Chelsea’s attacking players have had their shooting boots so far during the campaign. I’m doubtful anyone will be able to find them by Thursday.
Official odds (via FanDuel as of January 10)
Chelsea ML: +115
Fulham ML: +230
Draw: +250
Over/Under: 2.5 (-120/-102)
My picks
This season’s Jekyll and Hyde nature has made gambling on Chelsea matches extremely difficult, particularly since the return of club football. I’ve struggled mightily with the betting guides, but that’s all about to turn around.
For my first two picks, give me the aforementioned Fulham +1 at -150 odds and the away team to score under 1.5 goals at -136. Finally, I’ll take under 10.5 total corners for the game at -192 odds.
The two sides are averaging 10.1 corner kicks per game combined in the Premier League this season, so I think trading value for the extra kick makes sense in this case.