football | Wednesday, January 11, 2023 12:36 PM

Fulham vs Chelsea Bet Builder Tips: Willian to Impress Against Former Club in 2.87 Builder

Sam Ingram

Fulham vs Chelsea Bet Builder Tips: Thursday, January 12th

Both sides miss integral parts of their well-oiled and not-so-well-oiled machines, as bettingexpert provides Fulham vs Chelsea bet builder tips for you to consider. Which part of London will be the most joyous come the final whistle? Well, the hosts may have been in pole position without a fifth yellow card of the season.

In this article:

Fulham vs Chelsea Preview
Fulham vs Chelsea Stats & Facts
Fulham vs Chelsea Bet Builder

Fulham vs Chelsea Preview

England, Premier League, Thursday, January 12th, 19:45 (UK)

Considering the underlying numbers between those at Craven Cottage and the Bridge, these two are worlds apart. More specifically, Chelsea face a Fulham side on Thursday evening that sits rather unpretty at the top of the xGA Premier League tree.

Yet, the Blues aren’t exactly at their best. Amongst rumours of Joao Felix close to sealing a loan switch to help with the disjointed Chelsea attack, Graham Potter’s squad has served up less than 1.0xG in five of six recent performances. Now, two of the mentioned showings were against Manchester City, but this run also includes Nottingham Forest (0.94xG), Newcastle (0.30xG) & Arsenal (0.29xG).

Of course, going forward and creating high-quality opportunities to win matches will need to be improved to ensure the former Brighton manager gets the kind of longevity in the role that will naturally outmanoeuvre any teething problems. And in that respect, they may have stumbled upon the perfect opponent.

Fulham’s 30.2xGA pips Everton (30.1), Bournemouth (29.8) and Leeds (28.0) to the unwanted title of the top-flight’s most easily breached. If Chelsea can’t kickstart a purple patch in front of goal here, they may be in trouble.

At the other end, and something Thursday’s visitors will need to be wary of, Fulham boasts an expected goals total far superior to Chelsea. The 25.4xG from 18 matches is on a level par with Brighton and Manchester United, with only five of the big boys (including Newcastle United), and Brentford having produced more. Chelsea? Well, they’re languishing with the likes of Nottingham Forest and Everton. In fact, the Trees’ xG total is a little bigger than Chelsea’s 18.6xG, although the Stamford Bridge outfit has scored 20 to Forest’s 12.

It’s not all about the underlying metrics, of course. There’s an army of people who will rubbish the very thought of them and dismiss any inclusion of expected-whatever-they’re-called in conversation. However, from a betting perspective and for any prediction-based thought processes, xG/xGA is vital.

So, here we have a team that can’t stop scoring or conceding decent chances following promotion and a European giant not quite at its free-flowing best. Something has to give.

Fulham vs Chelsea Stats & Facts

Aleksandr Mitrović, who has scored 11 of Fulham’s 30 goals this season, will miss Thursday’s match through suspension.
Willian heads into the fixture against his old club with a 1.88 shots per90 figure this season.
Speaking of shots per90, Christian Pulisic leads the metric for Chelsea with 2.22. That is 47th-highest in the Premier League, a nod towards the lack of an out-and-out striker in Chelsea’s attack.
Only five teams rank lower than Chelsea in the xG stakes this season – three of which find themselves in the relegation places.

Fulham vs Chelsea Bet Builder

Harnessing what we do know regarding both sides’ underlying data when crossing the white line, perhaps Both Teams to Score will be a handy place to start. Yes, Chelsea will need to rid their recent bout of xG demons, but Fulham should allow them the opportunities to capitalise.

At Craven Cottage this season, Fulham’s 0-0 against Everton is the only fixture where the hosts have failed to score in nine matches under Marco Silva’s Premier League gaze. Not only that, but Fulham have gone to both Arsenal and Manchester City, two of the highest-performers in England, and done enough to muscle their way onto the scoresheet.

With the away side losing six of their last nine and on the back of a 4-0 thumping from Manchester City, the mounting injury doubts for the Fulham game will come as a hammer blow. Raheem Sterling will miss out, and fellow forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may join him on the sidelines with a minor back problem, only adding to Chelsea’s woes in the final third.

Aleksandr Mitrović’s fifth yellow card of the season will be an even bigger concern for Fulham. Where are the goals going to come from? One would expect that task to fall to Carlos Vinicius, who played 90 minutes against Hull City in the FA Cup and mustered just one shot. Here, Fulham will need more from him, though his Brazilian compatriots will back him up in forward areas in the shape of Willian and Andreas Pereira.

The former, Willian, will be out to make a point to his old team. Discarded far too soon, he will feel, considering he’s still making an impact for a side scrapping after promotion to the top tier. On home soil in the league, Willian has pulled the trigger without fail in each of his four starts. That includes four attempts against both Everton and Aston Villa, two versus Manchester United, and one against Southampton.

The Mitrović-sized hole in attack and a newfound reliance on other forwards, plus an accompanying desire to leave a mark against an old flame suggests the 1.83 wager may round off the bet builder quite well.