Fulham have really impressed - Potter
Chelsea return to action following a two week break as they host Fulham in the Premier League tonight following a record-breaking January transfer window.
The Blues broke the British transfer record to Enzo Fernandez on deadline and take their spending over £300m for the month with Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana also moving to Stamford Bridge.
Manager Graham Potter must now come up with a solution to fit all of his new incomings into the team and help Chelsea improve on their current 10th place standing in the table. Fulham come into this West London derby sitting above the Blues in the table and the Cottagers have good memories of this clash having won the reverse fixture 2-1 earlier this month.
Marco Silva will be hoping to repeat that result having also strengthened his squad in January with the signings of midfielder Sasa Lukic and Arsenal right-back Cedric Soares who moves to Craven Cottage on a loan deal.
Follow all the action as Chelsea host Fulham at Stamford Bridge:
What is the early team news?
Chelsea are waiting to hear whether deadline-day record signing Enzo Fernandez will receive clearance in time to play against Fulham, which could leave Chelsea short in midfield with Jorginho having joined Arsenal on deadline day.
Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Raheem Sterling and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are available to return to the bench but are not yet ready to play 90 minutes, while Wesley Fofana is training with the rest of the squad.
Fulham manager Marco Silva will have his two new signings Cedric Soares and Sasa Lukic available to face their local rivals.
However, with Lukic only arriving at the club 24 hours before the match, he may not be in contention for a starting spot. Neeskens Kebano remains on Fulham’s long-term injury list.
How to watch Chelsea vs Fulham
The match will kick-off at 8pm GMT on Friday 3 February.
It will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League, with coverage beginning at 7pm. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.
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Chelsea vs Fulham
Good evening and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Premier League action as Chelsea take on Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are languishing 10th in the table and need to string together a run of positive performances if they hope to challenge for the Champions League spot come the end of the season. They’ve been given a boost by some ungodly spending from owner Todd Boehly who has brought in over £300m worth of players in January alone.
New signings such as Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile and Enzo Fernandez may help get Chelsea out of their slump but Graham Potter is faced with a tricky task of fitting all the new players into the team as well as dealing with the egos of such a large squad.
In contrast Fulham are thriving under Marco Silva. They come into the match two points ahead of Chelsea and seventh in the table which is an incredibly impressive effort for the newly promoted side. However, they have lost their last two league games - to Tottenham and Newcastle - so will be keen to get more points on the board tonight.
Their last victory was against Chelsea a couple of weeks ago. Joao Felix shone on his debut for the Blues but got sent off at Craven Cottage allowing Fulham the impetous they needed to go on and seal a famous 2-1 victory. Can the Cottagers repeat that performance at Stamford Bridge tonight?
