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Fulham take on Chelsea in a west London derby at Craven Cottage, in a game between two teams expected to be competing at contrasting ends of the table.
This will be the first glimpse of the Cottagers with Alvarao Arbeloa in charge, the former Liverpool and Real Madrid man replacing the hugely successful Marco Silva in the dugout.
Chelsea, meanwhile, seem to have pulled off a coup by appointing Xabi Alonso as manager and now sit third in the outright market in the Premier League betting.
Here are our football tips for the 8pm kick-off at Craven Cottage, producing an 11/1 Bet Builder.
Fulham v Chelsea betting tips
Chelsea to win 10/11
Joao Pedro to score 6/5
Cole Palmer to have 1+ shot on target 17/40
Marco Palestra to take 2+ shots 11/5
Chelsea to win
Chelsea look a good bet to go well this season, with no European football to worry about and a squad of players that should complement what Alonso wants to do nicely.
The Spaniard led Bayer Leverkusen to an undefeated Bundesliga title in 2023/24 and has all the parts to recreate a team like that one here, with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro forming an exciting front three.
Reece James is fit to start in the back three, or alongside Moises Caicedo in midfield, while Maxence Lacroix looks a good signing at the heart of defence.
This looks a strong Blues side – and they can beat a Fulham team with several question marks.
Arbeloa didn’t do particularly well in interim charge of Real Madrid last season and it is not clear at the moment what qualifies him for this job, particularly as the transfer strategy seems to have just been to sign his former club’s best young players.
The Cottagers look like a candidate to be relegated and should be second-best here.
Joao Pedro to score
Pedro scored 15 Premier League goals last season and is developing into a fine all-round number nine.
The Brazilian has all the tricks and flicks you would expect, but is also physically strong and scores a good number of headers and scrappy goals.
Having had a free summer and scored seven goals in pre-season (a hat-trick and two braces), Pedro looks ready for this campaign and can break into the category of elite number nines.
A supply line of Palmer and Rogers will help, too, and backing him at odds-against in a match Chelsea should win makes sense.
Cole Palmer to have 1+ shot on target
Palmer hlooks a natural fit in Alonso’s setup and can surely hit the target at least once.
Like Pedro, Palmer has enjoyed a summer off and should come into this season refreshed having admitted that fitness issues let him down last season.
The right-sided number 10 role he is likely to play in Alonso’s 3-4-3 shape is made for him – and if he is back to his best then testing the keeper is hardly beyond him.
Palmer still averaged one shot on target per match last term and often had more, including two in this very fixture in January.
Marco Palestra to take 2+ shots
Palestra looks set to start as the left wing-back and should get himself into some very advanced areas.
The summer signing from Atalanta getting forward has been a feature of the Blues’ pre-season, with Palmer – in particular – picking out his runs in behind.
Alejandro Grimaldo – who played this role for Alonso in 2023/24 – took 2.2 shots per game that season, an indicator of what Palestra will be asked to do this time around.
Fulham v Chelsea odds
Chelsea should be the stronger of the two sides here and that view forms the basis of this 11/1 football betting Bet Builder.
Alonso’s side look set for a decent season, while there are too many question marks over Fulham to have confidence in them producing a shock result.
