Chelsea vs. Fulham – English Premier League, May 1, 2021

At least Scott Parker will not have to battle against Chelsea fans on Saturday. He will be taking his Fulham players to Stamford Bridge for a West London Derby that could all but seal the club’s EPL fate.

Defeat would leave the Cottagers a mountain to climb to catch any of the clubs above, with just four games to go after this one.

Chelsea’s players might have a Champions League semifinal second leg against Real Madrid on their minds, but there is still a race to finish in the top four to deal with.

The odds on BetOnline don’t suggest that there will be any problem for the home side gaining three more points this weekend, though.

Chelsea remains in contention for silverware on two fronts after the draw with Real Madrid in the Champions League this week. An FA Cup final against Leicester City is already scheduled for the end of May – and Thomas Tuchel still needs to navigate his side to a top-four finish to ensure qualification for Europe’s big tournament. It is a busy time for Chelsea.

But Tuchel has been a revelation since taking over from Frank Lampard and seems very happy with the way his players are performing. That includes Timo Werner, who scored last weekend against West Ham but missed another simple chance against Real Madrid.

Fulham’s defense hasn’t been quite as bad as some of the clubs at the bottom, but it will still have to do well to keep Werner and the rest of the Chelsea attackers out. Scott Parker’s side desperately needs to win games now and will still be frustrated about having two points snatched from its grasp in the last game against Arsenal.

A win instead of a draw at the Emirates would have put Fulham just five points behind Brighton, giving them a huge boost to their slim hopes of survival. Only Sheffield United has scored fewer goals than the Cottagers, though – and it is the forward line that will need to be on top form to score the goals that beat Chelsea this weekend. Unfortunately for Fulham, that seems unlikely.

Although he has not been quite the factor Scott Parker hoped he would be this season, the absence of Ruben Loftus-Cheek on Saturday is a blow for Fulham. He cannot face his parent club, which means that the visiting side will miss his presence up front.

Josh Maja might be given another chance, but I’m not sure that he will stop Chelsea from taking the three points here.