Chelsea vs Fulham, live: How to watch, stream link, team news, more

In Sports/Soccer
2023-02-02 15:40:44Z
By NBC Sports

Chelsea hosts Fulham on Friday for its first match since January 21, which is also its first match since breaking the British transfer record to purchase Enzo Fernandez from Benfica (watch live, 3pm ET on USA Network and online via NBCSports.com).

Fernandez may even feature for Chelsea, according to boss Graham Potter, who is coming off a 1-0 win over Palace and a nil-nil with Liverpool. All told, Chelsea could utilize a half-dozen of the nine players they signed in the January window.

STREAM LIVE CHELSEA vs FULHAM

So how has Chelsea been dealing with its long layoff? Here's Graham Potter on Friday at the team's training ground:

"We did some off-the-pitch activity, a bit of leadership and teamwork outside of this environment. But mostly it's been training and working on the team and how we want to play. Of course, we've been integrating new players and getting injured players up to speed. So it's a bit of everything really."

Here's everything you need to know ahead of Chelsea vs Fulham.

[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]

Premier League news

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How to watch Chelsea vs Fulham live, stream link and start time

Kick off: 3pm ET, Friday
TV Channel: USA Network
Online: Stream via NBCSports.com

Key storylines & star players

Watch out for Chelsea, because the crew is getting healthier. To be fair, it's difficult to have more injuries than Chelsea has had this year, but we digress. Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Raheem Sterling, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are all ready to go, though Graham Potter said none of them are ready for 90 minutes. Wesley Fofana is close to a return, but should miss out, while Joao Felix could make his return. So, yeah, we could see Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Raheem Sterling on the pitch at the same time. Zoom, zoom, Fulham.

Marco Silva's Cottagers have cooled off, at least in terms of results, since beating Chelsea at Craven Cottage on Jan. 12, the game in which Felix earned his red card. 1-0 losses to Newcastle and Spurs, forgivable, were followed up with a FA Cup draw with Sunderland. If Fulham can get through this, there's a more forgiving run of fixtures ahead with a Sunderland replay, Forest, Brighton, Wolves, and Brentford. But is anything forgiving any more in the Premier League? Aleksandar Mitrovic, as usual, looms as a key piece of Fulham's hopes.