Match Preview
Fulham versus Chelsea
Premiership Match Day 01 26/27 at Craven Cottage
Monday 24th August 2026 KO: 20:00
Referee:
John Brooks (Leicestershire)
Live on Sky Sports
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Fulham take on Chelsea at Craven Cottage in the final match of the first gameweek of the 2026-27 Premier League season with both sides beginning new eras under new managers.
The Cottagers bid farewell to Marco Silva after five years, while Xabi Alonso is the latest BlueCo appointment by the five-time Premier League
champions.
It may feel unusual for a while to watch a Fulham match without Silva on the touchline, but the Portuguese boss' decision to return home to Benfica has forced the West London club to go in a different direction.
The capital club have turned to Alvaro Arbeloa for the next three years, and it remains to be seen how the former full-back fares at the Cottage.
First up for the Spaniard is a stern test against their closest rivals, who have historically dominated this fixture, though Fulham have had more joy in recent meetings.
Silva won 50% of his last four West London derbies, securing 2-1 wins either side of two defeats, the latter of which came in January at the venue of Monday's encounter.
That victory marked the Cottagers' first at home to the Blues since 2023, and they now seek consecutive victories over Chelsea since back-to-back triumphs in the 1970s.
Pre-season results, though, were decidedly mixed, with Arbeloa claiming two wins from six, keeping a solitary clean sheet during that time, notably in their last fixture against Stuttgart.
The precedent against Chelsea suggests that another shutout may be unlikely, having only prevented the Blues from scoring in two goalless encounters in 2012 and 2023 across the most recent 16 meetings.
That possibly aids Alonso's cause ahead of a meeting with his former Liverpool and Real Madrid teammate and against the man who replaced him at the Bernabeu earlier this year, before Arbeloa himself got the heave-ho.
Alonso's arrival at Stamford Bridge has brought significant optimism for the Blues, who endured a topsy-turvy campaign under two head coaches and one interim en route to a disappointing 10th-placed finish.
That leaves the five-time Premier League champions without any European football, and fans of the club will have fond memories of a similar situation inherited by Antonio Conte exactly 10 years ago.
That time, Chelsea went on to claim what has now proved to be their last top-flight crown, and Alonso's preference for a similar 3-4-2-1 approach has prompted thrills in the blue side of the capital.
However, while Conte was inheriting a side that had title-winning experience in 2014-15, the ex-Bayer Leverkusen boss takes charge of a group that has appeared rudderless under different managers since 2021.
With the Spanish manager's mixed pre-season results not diluting the excitement for the world champions, the fifth BlueCo managerial appointment will hope to get fans onside early by securing a positive result at the Cottage on Monday night.
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Chelsea were beaten in their most recent meeting with Fulham (1-2 in January in the Premier League) but haven’t lost consecutive games versus the Cottagers across all competitions since a run of three between April 1977 and October 1979.
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Fulham will begin a Premier League season with a London derby for a fourth time, while they have lost each of the previous three: 1-2 away to Arsenal in 2007-08, 0-2 at home to Crystal Palace in 2018-19, and 0-3 at home to Arsenal in 2020-21.
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Fulham have won their opening game in just one of their last six Premier League seasons (D2 L3), beating Everton in the 2023-24 campaign.
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In 2026 so far, only Manchester United (8) have won more Premier League home games than Fulham (6), with the Cottagers winning six of their last nine at Craven Cottage (L3).
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Fulham’s Álvaro Arbeloa and Chelsea’s Xabi Alonso will be the 10th and 11th managers to take charge of a specific Premier League side for the first time this weekend, the outright most on MD1 in a single campaign (excluding 1992-93) in the competition’s history (previously nine in 2012-13 and 2016-17).
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` Chelsea have failed to win their opening game of the Premier League season in each of the last three seasons (D2 L1), last going four in a row without a win between 1995-96 and 1998-99.
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Since the start of March, Chelsea have the fewest points of any side not to be relegated from the Premier League last season (7). The Blues lost eight of 11 league games in this period (W2 D1), the most of any top-flight club.
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Xabi Alonso is set to be the 27th manager to take charge of at least one Premier League game with Chelsea – overtaking Tottenham Hotspur (26) as the most by any side (counting joint-managers as one). Just two of the Blues’ last eight managers have won their first league game in charge (D4 L2), although both were in London derbies – Graham Potter v Crystal Palace in October 2022, and Liam Rosenior v Brentford in January 2026.
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New Chelsea signing Danny Welbeck is set to feature in his 19th Premier League season, playing at least once in every single campaign since and including 2008-09. This will be the joint-most seasons played in by any striker in the competition’s history, equalling Jermain Defoe (19) and overtaking Peter Crouch (18).
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Source Seye Omidiora at SportsMole/BBCSports