Opposition View: What To Expect From Fulham As Chelsea Prepare For Premier League Opener | OneFootball

Previewing Chelsea's Premier League opener against Fulham. Video Credit: Absolute Chelsea

Chelsea will want to kick off their Premier League season with a win when they face Fulham in their opener on Monday night.

But it's going to be far from straightforward against Fulham at Craven Cottage, with the Cottagers eyeing back-to-back home league wins over the Blues after the win back in January.

It isn't just the start of a new era at Chelsea. It's the start of a new chapter at Fulham, with former Real Madrid boss Álvaro Arbeloa, who replaced Marco Silva, taking the hot seat.

Only goal difference separated the sides last season. Chelsea finished in 10th and Fulham one place below in 11th, seeing both clubs miss out on European qualification - a bigger shock for Chelsea, of course.

But they now head into the new season with optimism, a fresh direction and energy, with three points and west London bragging rights up for grabs.

Chelsea and Fulham will have seen some of the results this weekend, with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur being convincingly beaten.

The Blues are the favourites heading into Monday's opener, but Fulham are waiting to put a dampener on Alonso's first official game in charge of Chelsea.

What to expect from Fulham against Chelsea?

Absolute Chelsea spoke to FulhamRoundtable to get the perspective from the Blues' opposition.

"The club are, unlike in the previous three Premier League campaigns, very much something of an unknown quantity.

"Marco Silva has gone for Alvaro Arbeloa; experienced campaigners in Harry Wilson, Raul Jimenez, Issa Diop and Sasa Lukic are also gone.

"But in what has been a summer of out with the old and in with the new, the Cottagers have brought in some really exciting young talent in Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios from Real Madrid, Shea Charles from Southampton and teenager Jonah Kusi-Asare on a permanent deal from Bayern Munich.

"That leaves Fulham in a unique position of going into this season as a team nobody is quite sure of how good they could be.

"What is known is the style that Arbeloa looks set to implement, with Ryan Sessegnon, Antonee Robinson and Timothy Castagne all involved in the goals in pre-season.

"That suggests that Fulham’s full-backs are going to be bombing forward, which, for a team like Chelsea, who struggled so much in previous seasons to break down a low block, may actually play a lot into their favour.

"Fulham’s attack has a new look to it, with the ‘KGB’ of Kevin, Garcia and Oscar Bobb all still relatively new to life at Craven Cottage, but the defence does have a familiar feel to it as Calvin Bassey and Joachim Andersen look set to renew their pairing despite links to a move away for the Dane.

"Sander Berge will be pivotal to the Cottagers on both sides of the ball, but the new talisman of this side after Harry Wilson left looks set to be Alex Iwobi.

"Capable of playing on the left, in the pivot and in the No. 10, Iwobi scored twice and assisted twice in pre-season and he is certainly a player to keep your eye on.

"Fulham are a team many have predicted will struggle to stay in the top flight this season, and I think that largely stems from uncertainty about what they are capable of.

"After this opening match against the local rivals on Monday night, I think we will know a lot more about which end of the Premier League table the Cottagers could finish."