Neto has had three shots across his opening two games of the Premier League season, scoring one goal in the process. He’s part of an exciting Chelsea attack who look like they’re going to constantly create chances, especially at home.

Neto had a decent season last year, registering 10 goal contributions across his 24 Premier League starts. Enzo Maresca noted last season that he wanted more from players like Neto in terms of their goal tally, and his arrival in the box against West Ham showed that he may find himself in more regular goalscoring positions this season.

Neto averaged 2.34 shots per 90 in the Premier League last season; that’s 59 shots across his 24 starts in the English top-flight. I would expect this to increase this season with the addition of players like Joao Pedro and Liam Delap to Chelsea’s frontline. Chelsea averaged 15.66 shots per game in the Premier League last season and had 12 shots in this fixture last season.

Bassey has committed a foul in both of his Premier League games so far this season and now will face up against a dynamic Chelsea frontline which can draw plenty of fouls from the Fulham backline.

Fulham committed 13 fouls in both games against Chelsea last season, with Bassey committing two in the game at Craven Cottage and receiving a yellow card. Bassey averaged 0.76 fouls committed per 90 across his 35 Premier League appearances last season.

Bassey will be up against an alternating front two of Joao Pedro and Liam Delap who compliment each other well and cause havoc within the Fulham backline. The pair have won three fouls between them across Chelsea’s two Premier League games so far.

This selection is aided by the fact that this game is a London derby which should result in an increase in the fouls committed record of both sides here, just as it did in both meetings between the sides last season.

Robert Sanchez has been forced into making seven saves across his opening two Premier League matches. He made four saves against Crystal Palace before having to keep out West Ham on three occasions, despite Chelsea running out 5-1 winners.

Sanchez maintained the joint-best save percentage in the Premier League last season (73.5%), so he is actually a pretty reliable shot stopper, even if he has a tendency to make mistakes when the ball is at his feet.

Fulham drew two saves from Altay Bayindir in their 1-1 draw against Manchester United, and drew five saves from Robert Sanchez in this fixture last season. Chelsea’s backline is still a little unsettled in the absence of Levi Colwill, which should give the Cottagers chances to test the Chelsea keeper.

It’s hard to work out if Chelsea were excellent or West Ham were that poor following the Blues’ 5-1 victory over the Hammers last time out. Chelsea did put together some nice sequences, but West Ham made it far too easy for them to get into the final third.

The main positive from that game for Chelsea was the fact that they registered a convincing victory without Cole Palmer. This is important for this young Chelsea side as they can be a bit overreliant on Palmer at times which allows for other players, such as Estevao, to show that the Blues have real attacking depth even without their star man.

Chelsea won 12 of their 19 home games in the Premier League last season which was Chelsea’s best home record since the 2016/17 season when they won the title under Antonio Conte. Fulham won eight of their 19 away games last season, including registering a victory at Stamford Bridge, but that was their first ever win at the Bridge, so it would take some performance for them to match it.

Joao Pedro has made a flying start to life at Chelsea and was excellent in the Blues’ 5-1 win over West Ham, picking up two assists and scoring the goal to get Chelsea level after the Hammers had taken an early lead.

He’s registered six goal contributions across his five appearances for Chelsea in the Club World Cup and the Premier League so far, which is a record which indicates that he has slotted in seamlessly to this Chelsea side.

I’m still not set on him leading the line as number nine, but he’s definitely effective in the pockets just behind the striker, which is why Liam Delap and the Brazilian work so well together as the former Ipswich striker can vacate space for the Brazilian.

Joao Pedro registered 17 goal contributions across all competitions for Brighton last season, which is an impressive record he can look to build on for Chelsea this campaign.

Berge is part of a tenacious Fulham midfield and is often partnered with Sasa Lukic in the middle of the park. Lukic is certainly more aggressive than Berge, but the Norwegian is also likely to be in with a chance of receiving a card here when looking at the potential Chelsea players that could line up against him.

Berge received six yellow cards last season across his 26 Premier League appearances. He committed 31 fouls across these matches (1.25 per 90) and will be regularly challenged by the Chelsea midfield here:

Enzo Fernandez - 1.65 fouls won p/90

Moises Caicedo - 1.56 fouls won p/90

Joao Pedro - 2.12 fouls won p/90

(All 24/25 PL)

Lukic is unlikely to be able to handle all of those foul threats from the Chelsea midfield on his own, which should see Berge have to engage in more work off the ball than he usually would.

Just as Berge is pretty likely to commit a few fouls here, I also like this angle to see him hauled down at least once at Stamford Bridge. Berge didn’t start in this fixture last season, but both Andreas Pereira and Lukic were fouled at least once in the game. Berge played the game between the sides at Craven Cottage and was fouled once on that occasion.

Berge contested six duels in his most recent Premier League appearance against Manchester United, he was fouled once in the game. His average from last season isn’t that promising (0.40 fouls won per 90), but there are reasons to believe that this record will increase here when factoring in the occasional petulance and over-aggressive nature of this young Chelsea side.

Chelsea averaged just under 12 fouls committed per game last season, they’ve committed 10 fouls in both of their games so far this season, and this should further increase here as they are contesting a West London derby. The same players that are likely to win a few fouls in the Chelsea midfield are the same players that can give them away, especially if Enzo Maresca’s side get frustrated here.