Adrian Mills' picks for Monday night's London derby include between Fulham and Chelsea.
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Chelsea have endured a torrid start to the season and already find themselves playing catch-up to the Premier League’s top four, as they prepare to make the short trip to Fulham on Monday.
With just one win in their first six games of the campaign, Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues found themselves down in 14th place in the table ahead of the weekend’s games.
Marco Silva’s Fulham sit three points ahead of Chelsea at this early stage of the campaign and the Cottagers will fancy their chances of adding to the Blues’ woes on Monday evening.
Best bets
Draw @ 12/5
Carlos Vinicius to score @ 13/5
Over 10.5 corners @ 11/10
Stalemate on the cards at The Cottage
It was not all that long ago that Chelsea would have quietly considered this fixture three points in the bag, as they won seven games in a row against neighbours Fulham, until last season.
In the two meetings between these sides last term, Fulham had a night to remember in January as they stopped their seven-match losing streak against the Blues to win 2-1 at Craven Cottage.
The following month in February, they backed up that win with a solid goalless draw at Stamford Bridge.
Fulham are currently on a run for three straight home wins in all competitions and, after their efforts against Chelsea last season, look capable of playing out a draw against an underperforming Chelsea side on Monday night at odds of 12/5.
Vinicius can strike again
Following the departure of star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic over the summer to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, Carlos Vinicius will have to try and step up and help fill the void this season.
The Brazilian, who joined from Portuguese giants Benfica last year, contributed five league goals to Fulham’s cause in the Premier League last season and is now fully up to speed with the rigours of the English top-flight.
One of Vinicius’ five league goals came in the 2-1 win the last time Chelsea made the trip to Craven Cottage at the start of this year.
Vinicius has scored in Fulham’s last two home games against Luton Town and Norwich City and is good value at 13/5 to add to his tally and score anytime on Monday.
Expect corners at Craven Cottage
With 38 corners already this season at an average of over six a game, only four other clubs have had more corners in the Premier League than Pochettino’s Chelsea this season.
Fulham are further down the corners charts, but have still been averaging just over four corners a game in the top-flight.
With those figures in mind, it’s not a stretch to suggest over 10.5 total corners in the game could happen at Craven Cottage, with odds of 11/10 for it to land in this one.
