Fulham manager Marco Silva knows that the meetings with Chelsea hold that extra bit of importance for the Club out of all the 12 derbies in the Premier League this season, .
“It's a special one, no doubt about it,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “In London you have a big number of derbies, but you always have one or two that are more special for the fans.
“We play for the fans, and we know how certain games are important for them, and this is one of these games.
“In the first months of the season, we had a chance to play [Chelsea] at home – it wasn't our best game with the way we played, [so] of course we want to do something different against a very good side.
“They have not been as consistent as they would like, for sure, but of course they have the quality, a big squad, high quality, individual quality that can decide a game in any moment of the match.
“We have to be at a very, very good level because it's going to be an intense game. A derby is always challenging, a lot of situations that are going to demand from ourselves to be at our best level.
“They’ve got a really good manager as well, and it’s going to be a very tough game for us.”
Fulham’s preparations for the SW6 derby will not have been helped by the 2am arrival home from the First Leg of our Carabao Cup Semi-Final in Liverpool.
“We are going to be up for it, but of course it is difficult,” he admitted. “It's not a normal time between games, not even 72 hours to the next game.
“We all know how important it is to have a minimum of 72 hours to prepare to start a game after [playing a match].
“It's not normal, after a late Wednesday match, to start with an early kick-off on a Saturday. But it is what it is, it’s scheduled already, we cannot change it, it’s not for us to take these type of decisions.
“If they listened to the managers and the players, things could probably be a bit more safe for the players, because it's always a big risk. If you ask me if I would like to have more time to prepare – definitely.”