Chelsea vs Fulham: Five Key Battles

On Saturday, Chelsea take on Fulham in a local derby. Both teams need the three points and their reasons for needing them are similar in certain ways yet very different in others.

Chelsea are coming off a massive summer spending spree that includes the return of Jose Mourinho. Yet things haven’t gone to the plan so far. The Blues have registered back-to-back losses against Everton (Premier League) and FC Basel (Champions League) and will be desperately looking for a win to get back some much-needed momentum.

Fulham have a new owner in Shahid Khan and have brought in a few new players but results have been mixed so far. A win against their local rivals will provide the players and fans with a bit of a boost and will also help the team form some camaraderie.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five battles that will influence the result of the game:

Scott Parker vs Oscar

Scott Parker of Fulham

As the defensive midfielder, Scott Parker will have the unenviable job of keeping Chelsea’s bright attacking playmaker Oscar from influencing the game too much. The Brazilian has been experiencing a good run of form so far this season and has arguably been Chelsea’s best player. Despite the team looking poor against Basel, he managed to put in a half-decent shift. Scott Parker will have to do a lot of work to ensure that Oscar doesn’t run riot against them.

Darren Bent vs John Terry

John Terry of Chelsea

Bent is the type of striker who relies a lot on the service provided to him to get his goals, meaning he has one obvious weakness: he can be out-marked quite easily. John Terry didn’t start in midweek against Basel and so should start this one. If he does, he will be handed the task of making sure that Bent isn’t able to get into goal-scoring positions.

Given that the Chelsea captain was able to keep Robin van Persie in check without breaking a sweat, he shouldn’t find it too tough to keep Bent quiet. But one can never quite be sure.

Bryan Ruiz vs Ashley Cole

Bryan Ruiz of Fulham

Fulham will no doubt look to attack down the right wing a lot, seeing the amount of success Basel had by employing the exact same tactic on Wednesday. Bryan Ruiz might not be as pacy as Mohamed Salah but he’s a clever little player nonetheless and will look to take on Ashley Cole as much as he can.

Cole has been out of form since the middle stages of last season and unless he improves his form soon, he will be in for another bad day at the office against Ruiz.

Brede Hangeland vs Fernando Torres/Demba Ba

Demba Ba of Chelsea

Hangeland is a big imposing influence in the heart of Fulham’s defence and will no doubt look to take on the task of keeping Chelsea’s lone striker (probably Torres or Ba, given that Eto’o has now played two games on the trot) from getting into dangerous positions inside the penalty area.

Chelsea’s creative players will try to look for an outlet and Hangeland’s job will be to ensure they don’t have one by keeping the striker in check. How well he does this job will have a big impact on the final result.

Willian vs Jon Arne Riise

Willian of Chelsea

The Brazilian attacker looked decent on his Chelsea debut against Basel and will probably start against Fulham too. Riise will have the task of keeping the Brazilian from getting into dangerous positions from the right wing and given Willian’s ability on the ball and propensity for taking on a defender, he won’t have an easy time. If Riise can put in a shift, this particular duel will be a very interesting one to watch.