Fulham

Can Fulham frontman Bobby Zamora really feature for England?

England coach Fabio Capello was at Craven Cottage on Sunday to check on the 29-year-old and the striker didn't pass up his chance.

Zamora was inspirational for the Cottagers and capped a fine display with a superb last-gasp free-kick to seal Fulham's 2-1 success over Birmingham.

The England coach had already left the Cottage before Zamora's strike but his report on the targetman is sure to compare favourably with that of England general manager Franco Baldini, who was keeping tabs on Emile Heskey, among others at Villa Park.

Heskey was far from his best and was substituted with 77 minutes on the clock as Aston Villa thumped Burnley 5-2.

Meanwhile, Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has joined the clamour for the in-form Zamora to gain England recognition and the Fulham fans chanted his name for England as he claimed his 15th goal in 32 starts this season.

"Bobby Zamora was a thorn all afternoon - he caused us a lot of problems," said the Blues manager.

"I think Zamora was the difference. If Fabio Capello is looking for a certain type of forward, then Zamora is as good as anyone I've seen at keeping that ball up.

"Like Emile Heskey, he's a guy who can bring other players into play and help other people prosper without maybe being prolific."

Roy Hodgson added: "I think Capello will have been impressed. I know the fans were chanting his name for England and that was quite right.

"Capello knows football very well and is a person I regard as a friend. I've got every faith in his judgement.

"If he believes Bobby can do a job for him he'll pick him.

"I'm sure that being the good judge of a player that he is, he'll have gone away realising that in Bobby Fulham have a good player."

Zamora is certainly a striker in form and if Capello is looking for someone to support Wayne Rooney then the Fulham man could come into contention for the friendly against Egypt on March.

However, England's World Cup football betting makes puts them among the favourites for the tournament and there are question marks over Zamora's ability to cut it at the very highest level.

Meanwhile, in horse racing news, the build up to the Grand National 2010 is well underway and Tricky Trickster currently leads the ante-post betting.

League One outfit Millwall must be rueing the day they allowed Chris Smalling to slip through their grasp.

The 20-year-old Fulham centre-back has this week signed a deal with Manchester United, which could be worth as much as £12 million, and Millwall must be kicking themselves.

Smalling started his career at The New Den, but he was released by the Lions and forced into non-league football with his local side Maidstone United.

The England Under-21 star quickly began impressing scouts at Maidstone and went for trials with Middlesbrough and Charlton - two more clubs who failed to see the youngster's potential.

Fulham eventually snapped up the quick defender in June 2008 and he went on to make his first start for the Cottagers this season in the Europa League against CSKA Moscow.

His potential was quickly recognised by the Premier League big guns and both Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford were keen to acquire his services.

United won the race for his signature and Smalling was at Old Trafford on Wednesday to have a medical and watch the team he will join at the start of next season reach the Carling Cup final with a 3-1 win over Manchester City.

The Greenwich-born star has certainly come a long way since he was rejected by Millwall, but if he can continue his steep learning curve then Fabio Capello's senior England squad must surely be within his sights.

Last month Smalling said: "It may be disheartening at the start when you find yourself in the non-League but, if you keep your performance levels up and get to grips with the job in front of you, then you adapt pretty quickly.

"I thought I would get my chance eventually. I didn't give up. I'd like to set an example if there are people out there who have to drop down to non-League.

"There's always another level to kick on to and you never know what clubs are watching you. You just need to keep up your performance level."

One bright spot for the Lions is the fact that Millwall's League One odds suggest they should be in the promotion mix come the end of the season.

Meanwhile, some exciting trial races for the Cheltenham Festival are set to take place this weekend and the results could have a significant impact on the betting markets.

Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship (UWCC) witnessed another defence yesterday as champions Fulham took on big spending Manchester City at Eastlands.

City went into this match with a 100% home record so far this season and this, coupled with the star power available to boss Mark Hughes and Fulham's dismal away form (just eight away games won in the past four seasons), made the home side firm favourites to outclass their opponents.

But the West Londoners weren't in bad form themselves. Unbeaten in their last four games, including coming within seconds of a famous victory over Roma in their last match, Fulham were no strangers to overcoming the odds.

And overcome the odds they did, recovering from a two goal deficit to grab a point, the final score being 2-2.

The defensive nature of Fulham's tactics was clear to see in the first half, as Roy Hodgson tried to implement the same counter-attacking game that saw his side almost beat Roma.

Predictably, then, it was City who had the lion's share of possesion and chances.

Emmanuel Adebayor created the first chance, laying a pass off to Carlos Tevez, but the Argentinian saw his shot bobble wide.

Adebayor then had a half-chance of his own. Craig Bellamy's cross from the left was just behind him, and the ex-Arsenal man produced a clever back-heel but it never seriously tested Mark Schwarzer.

As the game wore on, evidence of Fulham's counter-attacking philosophy was plain to see as Hodgson's plan looked like coming to fruition.

One such counter-attack presented Diomancy Kamara with a good opportunity to open the scoring.

Bobby Zamora poked the ball through but Kamara, one on one with Shay Given, took a heavy touch which allowed the City goalkeeper to collect the ball at his feet.

It was City who were the dominating force in the match, however, and they should have taken the lead soon after Kamara's chance.

Wayne Bridge's long range effort deflected to Nigel De Jong inside the box whose effort produced a stunning save from Schwarzer.

The half ended in controversy after referee Kevin Friend disallowed Micah Richards' headed goal. Martin Petrov's corner was met by the Englishman who beat Schwarzer, only have his goal ruled out for a push by Gareth Barry on Chris Baird.

If Richards felt a sense of disbelief at the decision, it was nothing compared to what everyone inside the ground felt soon after the second half kicked off.

After some good work on the left by Kamara, Clint Dempsey's shot was deflected into the path of Zamora who, with the goal at his mercy from just six yards out, side-footed the ball over the crossbar in one of the worst misses you will see this season.

And City took full advantage of this remarkable let off. A corner from Bellamy led to Barry poking the ball to Adebayor who held off the defenders to knock it on to Lescott who, amidst a goalmouth scramble, managed to squeeze it over the line to give City the lead.

This lead was doubled just minutes later too, when Martin Petrov linked up with Gareth Barry before getting the ball back, finding some space on the edge of the box, and curling it past a helpless Schwarzer.

In the space of a few minutes, City had gone from somehow not being 1-0 down to being 2-0 up. Then, in the space of just eight minutes, it was all level again.

Stephen Kelly's cross found Bobby Zamora who went some way to redeeming himself for his earlier miss by chesting the ball down to Damien Duff who shot low and hard past Shay Given.

It was another cross that caused the problems for Fulham's second goal too, this time Clint Dempsey rising highest and directing a fine header past Given.

In the space of just 15 minutes there had been four goals, and the drama didn't end there.

Gareth Barry came close to restoring City's lead with his header, while Kamara almost gave Fulham the three points with an effort of his own.

The result means that Man City join Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Stoke as the least successful teams in UWCC history, each losing all three of their title matches.

Again, the minority of people who voted in the poll correctly predicted the outcome of this match, with just 20 percent backing Fulham to retain their title!

Fulham's run

Fulham 2-0 Hull (Fulham become new champions)

Fulham 1-1 Roma

Manchester City 2-2 Fulham

(Click here to see the complete history of Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship)

Fulham's next title match comes on Saturday as they host Manchester United's conquerors. No, not Burnley but Liverpool. Can Rafa Benitez's men beat Fulham and become the first ever three-time UWCC Champions?!

Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship (UWCC) witnessed another defence today as newly crowned champions Hull took on former champions Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Hull came into this match struggling to find form, despite their most recent match being a 2-1 win over Wigan, and Phil Brown knew he'd have to follow up on that result to make it worthwhile.

Fulham, on the other hand, were unbeaten in two matches but not faring much better. In fact, before kick-off, the two sides were level on points, albeit with Fulham having a game in hand.

Ultimately, it was Roy Hodgson's men who ran out 2-0 winners, making Hull the second consecutive team to lose the UWCC title on their first defence after Wigan did the same before the international break.

Many had predicted Hull's poor start to the season, but few had anticipated Fulham having the same problem after their remarkable season last year.

Perhaps that shock caused the caution and lack of ambition that plagued the opening exchanges of this game as, for the most part, neither team looked like threatening the opposition's goal.

After 25 minutes, however, this changed when Bobby Zamora spurned a great opportunity.

Diomansy Kamara provided a magnificent pass which split the Hull defence, only for Zamora to shoot over from inside the six yard box.

While this seemed to liven Fulham up somewhat, Phil Brown's men looked devoid of any ideas to break down their opposition's defence.

Damien Duff saw two long range efforts go close before the deadlock was finally broken just before half-time.

Another Duff effort was parried by Boaz Myhill, but Zamora reacted quicker than everyone to head past the sprawling Hull City 'keeper.

Any hope that the goal would prompt an exciting second half quickly evaporated as, while Hull looked marginally better than they did in the first, they were still massively unconvincing going forward.

Stephen Hunt had a half-chance when he controlled well inside the box, but his shot didn't trouble the Fulham goal. Not even the introduction of Jimmy Bullard, returning from injury against his former club, could motivate the team.

In fact, it seemed to motivate Fulham more than it did Hull as a matter of minutes later, Fulham doubled their lead through Diomancy Kamara.

Bobby Zamora broke down the right before playing the ball across to Kamara who made no mistake, slamming the ball past Myhill.

The game looked more or less dead at 1-0, but the second completely killed off any hope of a Hull fightback.

Fulham could, and perhaps should have gone even further ahead before the final whistle was blown. Clint Dempsey missed two good chances and Zamora came close to grabbing a second with his shot from the edge of the box.

It ended just 2-0 however, and Phil Brown was left pondering just why his team were so lacklustre.

The result means that Fulham embark on their second reign as UWCC champions, the third team to achieve that feat after Liverpool and Chelsea.

It was also Fulham's seventh match as challengers to the UWCC title, more than any other team, and they now hold the joint record for amount of successful challenges as well as the record for most unsuccessful attempts.

78.6 percent of people who voted in the poll correctly predicted that Fulham would beat Hull and regain the UWCC title, so well done to the majority!

Fulham's run

Fulham 2-0 Hull (Fulham become new champions)

(Click here to see the complete history of Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship)

Fulham's first title defence comes on Thursday in a tough Europa League tie against Roma. Can Roma beat Roy Hodgson's men to finally take the UWCC title out of England and become the best club in the world?

Everton will be looking to continue their mini survival by taking three points from a Fulham side rocked by a few key injuries.

Everton haven’t made the best of starts to the 2009-10 Premier League campaign, but thanks to some shrewd moves in the transfer market David Moyes’ team can start to look forward to the rest of the season.

After seeing star defender Joleon Lescott seal his move to Manchester City, Moyes acted quickly in bringing classy Dutch star Johnny Heitinga and hard as nails Sylvain Distin to Goodison Park. The two are likely to partner each other in central defence at Craven Cottage.

Everton’s squad isn’t the biggest so the addition of Heitinga in particular will be a welcome one as the former Ajax man can play all across the defence and as a holding midfield man, whilst fellow new signing Diniyar Bilyaletdinov can also play in a few different roles, but will be mainly used as a winger.

Fulham have also had an inconsistent start to the season. An opening day victory over Portsmouth has been followed by two league defeats and a European loss, the latter however didn’t affect their qualification to the Europa League group stage.

Injuries haven’t helped Roy Hodgson’s side; with Simon Davies, Andrew Johnson, Danny Murphy, and Bobby Zamora all missing games so far this season. All four are in the squad for Sunday’s game, but whether or not they’ll all feature is another matter.

A massive problem for Fulham is scoring goals. With only Zamora managing a league goal so far this term, they desperately need Johnson fit and finding the back of the net again or their seventh place finish from last season will just be a one off as the likes of Man City and Spurs are not going to be lagging behind them this time around.

The Cottagers find themselves as marginal favourites for the match at odds of 13/8, but I don’t think it represents good value, especially if some of their big stars don’t make the starting 11.

The draw could be the safe bet with neither team particularly firing and that’s available at 11/5, however I like the look of Everton (17/10 in the betting). It might not be pretty, but I think with some of their new faces eager to impress and Louis Saha finally looking back to full health they should just have enough to nick this one.

Fulham could find themselves frustrated by Everton’s new look defence and their best route to goal may come from set-pieces. With that in mind Danny Murphy could prove profitable at 14/1 to notch first or 11/2 to pounce at any time of the match.

For Everton, Bilyaletdinov should see plenty of the ball out wide and is a tempting price of 12/1 to open the scoring, 5/1 to bag one at any point of the 90 minutes.

The loss of Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora is a huge blow to Fulham and their performance against Villa in their previous game was inept to say the least. There hasnt been a draw between these two teams since 1965 and I feel Everton are just starting to crank the gears up after putting the whole Lescott saga behind them.

Go with the Toffees.

On December 28, 2008, English Premier League big boys, Chelsea, could only manage a 2-2 tie against a scrappy Fulham team. Chelsea played like the superior club that day, but Fulham's Clint Dempsey wasn't willing to let them leave Craven Cottage with a win.

Dempsey scored two goals in the game, highlighted by an 89th-minute equalizer headed past Chelsea's seemingly impregnable goalkeeper, Petr Cech.

For Fulham fans, Dempsey's goals made him the hero of that day. For other English football fans, that game put him on the map as a legitimate scoring threat in the league. But for Clint himself, the game was yet another reminder of how far he has come in what has been an arduous journey to the top.

Dempsey grew up in Nacogdoches, Texas. A small, quiet town in between Dallas and Houston. Growing up in the mecca of high school football in America, Dempsey chose soccer instead. He and his siblings would play for hours outside with local Mexican immigrant children, learning the game from a seasoned culture.

Over the years, he became quite good at soccer, catching the eye of a coach from the Dallas Texans youth club while juggling on the sidelines of a practice. Dempsey joined the club shortly thereafter and became one of the team's best players in the process.

However, money was always an issue for Clint and his family. The financial commitment of traveling to different parts of the country for tournaments and driving to Dallas for practices was overwhelming.

After all, the family lived in a trailer park in Nacogdoches, far away from an area where Clint could thrive in the sport. It was a difficult situation, so much so that he would have to stop playing club soccer.....his dream was fading.

But Dempsey was sorely missed by his team, so through a series of sacrifices, he was able to return. Parents of his teammates pooled money together to help pay for the traveling expenses.

Once this support poured in, Dempsey made it worthwhile for those who helped him.  He went on to become team captain and was one of the team's most valuable players.  

It was that feeling of support that started a chain reaction of success for Dempsey. He went on to play College Soccer for three years at Furman University in South Carolina, scoring 17 goals in 61 starts for the Paladins.

In 2004, he was selected eighth overall by the New England Revolution in the MLS Superdraft. For the Revs, Dempsey instantly became a household name, known around the league for his creativity and finishing abilities. In 2005, he was named to the MLS Best XI, giving him an official title as one of the top players in the league.

It was in that same year when something interesting happened to Dempsey.  Playing as a member of the MLS All-Star team, he suited up against English outfit Fulham. The MLS team went on to win the game, thanks in part to a Dempsey assist on the game-winner.

Little did he know, Fulham was going to be the club that would make his dream come true and bring him to the English Premier League just over a year later.

Dempsey always felt that Europe was going to give him the best chance to develop as a player. Fulham paid $4 million for Dempsey, with hopes that he could be the next American (Brian McBride was a fan favourite) to enjoy big success at Craven Cottage.

Now, we're in 2009, and Dempsey hasn't disappointed. His speed, creativity, and attacking abilities have earned him 94 first team appearances with Fulham (16 goals) and 58 caps for the national team (17 goals).

His success has been widespread. He has scored goals in the World Cup, Confederations Cup, Europa League, English Premier League, English FA Cup, and the MLS.  

In a period where American soccer is on the rise, Dempsey is at the forefront of the discussion. He has earned the respect of fans all over the world, giving maximum effort every time he steps onto the pitch. For Dempsey, working hard isn't a burden, it's what he is used to.

Back to the drawing board for Fulham after Chelsea soundly wins at Craven Cottage 2-0 thanks to goals from Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.

With the injury to Andy Johnson during the week, Clint Dempsey started up front for the Cottagers and Fulham dipped into their newly deepened midfield pool for Sunday’s Week Two fixture against Chelsea. One wonders if Hodgson didn’t get the idea from watching Dempsey play up front for the USA national team as recently as this past summer.

It is amazing how many world-class players Chelsea has. As Michael Ballack’s free kick sailed harmlessly over the crossbar in the 30th minute, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard looked on from behind the ball, both fully capable from that range. Just as pundits begin wonder why neither of them took the kick, the realization of who missed comes into focus and you just have to smile in awe of the quality on the field.

All transfer season, Fulham looked as if they may not add to a squad that won a spot in Europa League. The signings of Damian Duff and Jonathan Greening this week from newly relegated Newcastle and West Brom respectively, have transformed a portentous transfer window into an impressive one.

Hodgson has added depth to a strong midfield and the two signings may be just what the squad needs to get through the added fixtures brought on by Europa League.

All the Cottagers need heading into the last week of the transfer season is another striker and Roy Hodgson has been quoted saying he is looking precisely for that.

Chelsea’s football experience began to weigh through on Fulham as the first half wore on. They dictated the flow of the game through their crisp passing and possession of the football, imposing themselves upon the defensive line.

Neither goalkeeper was tested for much of the first half, as Chelsea had the better of it with a few half chances and two shots that whistled past posts.

Until Drogba clinically finished past Schwarzer in the 37th after a nice combination buildup by Lampard, Anelka, and finally Drogba broke down the Fulham defense and beat the offside trap, as Hughes mistimed his step forward by the smallest fraction.

In the second half, Anelka showed off his ability, finding himself on the receiving end of a blistering Chelsea build-up, this time with Drogba making the decisive final pass, another perfectly timed through ball behind the Fulham backline. Anelka’s pace took him past Schwarzer as he touched it past the helpless keeper to complete a trademark Chelsea counter attack.

The story of the fixture was the combination play between Anelka and Drogba. Often thought that the two couldn’t play together once Anelka arrived from Bolton in 2007, those fears have disappeared in the early days of the new season.

Carlo Ancelotti’s new diamond formation has put two strikers up front in contrast to the old 4-3-3 that the team played during Jose Morinho’s era and through the four coaches in the two years since his departure.

With Anelka and Drogba playing so well together, Chelsea will be tough for anyone to beat and have a legitimate shot at some serious hardware this season.

Three in three then. We got our much expected cleansheet finally. I did predict a 2-0 but the only thing that was a surprise to me was Anelka’s goal. Chelsea were at ease and class in what was a traditionally tricky away match.

Carletto played his away formation 4-3-2-1 as he did against Sunderland. I think I’d conclude that it worked well. Especially if you look at the first goal, it was a direct product of the 4-3-2-1.

Now Chelsea has three wins in three matches and surprisingly Spurs also have the same record. For the last few seasons, they always had a good team and purely by squad strength they were worthy of a challenge for the fourth place. Only this time, it appears that they are confident of their abilities and they seem to have that piece of luck that eluded them.

Man City and Arsenal can also notch their third win but they will go on with this annoying "one-game-in-hand" situation. I simply hate this "one-game-in-hand" thingy.

Carletto keeps impressing me. He tries new things. He is not afraid to make changes when needed. He rotates the players with ease. He talks rather well. He knows what he’s doing/talking. His decision to rest Essien and pick Mikel was quite adventurous and it looked like it certainly inspired Mikel.

He had said why he thinks 4-3-2-1 would work against teams that are content to be in their own half. I thought he would start Deco but he did not. While Drogba was the lone striker, Lampard and Anelka were playing behind Drogba. I was surprised at Lampard’s role as only the last week Ancelotti said that Lampard would move to the left midfield.

I thought that playing in the hole does not look like Lampard’s ideal position. He must be better as one of the three midfielders than playing in the hole with another player. If Lampard is playing in that role let him be the only player in the hole, like in a 4-3-1-2.

Plus, I thought Anelka was not suited for the "playing behind the striker" role. He does not have the quick feet or quick mind to play like a No.10. A Deco or a Joe Cole or even a Salomon Kalou would be more suited while Anelka should be all about finishing the chances.

All said, the first goal was a beauty. Playing behind the striker, Lampard under pressure, played it to Anelka. he Frenchman smartly let the ball loose in space which was picked up by on-side Drogba and finished with power and style. This move in a way vindicated the formation and the choice of players in the roles. But I still feel neither Lampard nor Anelka is best suited for the two player combination behind the striker.

Drogba has said this a dozen times. He can play with Anelka and their combination will work really well. He’s at it again:

There’s no doubt that Nicolas and I can work together. We are intelligent people, so we know how to play together. We just needed some time and it’s taking effect now. This is the perfect start to the season, especially as we still have a lot of improve on. It’s good to start with three wins and we’ll try to improve more. I didn’t think I’d be flagged for offside, because I waited until the last moment. I knew where he [Anelka] was going to put the ball so I made the right run at the right time.

The second goal was even better. Drogba just returned the favour to Anelka with a well weighted pass. In a flash, you could see the best of Anelka. He moved in with some incredible speed and rounded the keeper before he finished it. That’s what he does best. If the opportunity of the second goal had come to Drogba, I don’t think he would have attempted to round off the keeper. He would have either blasted it or chipped it. The way Anelka moved and scored was his trademark.

Big plus is the fact we did not concede before we had to score, or we didn’t concede at all. I don’t think we were truly threatened by this team that beat Man Utd 2-0 during the title chase towards the end of last season. We were very solid at the back. Mikel and Ballack alternating and complementing each other. Even during the set piece situations our defence was very assured and confident and did not put you and me under pressure.

Good bunch of wins and a very good start to the season. I don’t want us to win big at this stage of the season. I don’t want us to peak too soon. While we are winning now, let’s do it the hard way rather than walloping teams and then have our weaknesses exposed by bigger teams. Next up, we have Burnley and Stoke City. All other things being equal, we should make it 5 in 5 by which time Man Utd would have played Arsenal at Old Trafford, Manchester City would have played Arsenal at City of Manchester stadium and Tottenham would have played Man Utd at White Hart Lane. Again, during this period, we would be playing Burnley and Stoke City.

So there is a big chance of Chelsea notching up the lead by mid-September. More good news as Joe Cole is training with the reserves and would be fit enough to start the match against Stoke city. He could very well be our marquee signing as we don’t seem to be even rumoured with any players. Forget transfers, just look at how we are doing on the pitch, just realise that Joe Cole and Zhirkov would join the party soon. Lots of reasons (fantasy premier league aside) to be cheerful. Cheers!

Fulham v Chelsea, Premier League, August 23, 2009

Fulham 11/2; Draw 13/5; Chelsea 4/7

The West London derby completes Sunday’s Premier League action, with Fulham looking to get one over on pace-setters Chelsea who are two from two at this early stage of the season.

Although 100 percenters, the Blues have not managed to win easily so far this season. (Chelsea are 8/11 to keep a clean sheet.) Victories in the Community Shield, at home to Hull, and then away at Sunderland have all had one thing in common - on each occasion the Pensioners have had to come from behind after conceding the first goal of the game.

The Cottagers’ scoring prowess, which has seen them chalk up 10 goals in their opening four games of the new year, took a hit this week though as record signing Andrew Johnson injured his shoulder in the Europa League qualifier with Amkar Perm. Johnson is expected to be out of action for several weeks, which should leave Diomansy Kamara (7/2 to score) and Bobby Zamora (7/2 to score) to lead the line for the hosts.

On the plus side, Roy Hogson will hope to welcome back long term injury victim Simon Davies in midfield, while new signings Damien Duff (6/1 to score) and Jonathan Greening could well be unveiled after moving to London this week from Newcastle and West Brom, respectively. With Clint Dempsey (12/1 to score first), Danny Murphy and Zoltan Gera all alternative options in the middle of the park, Fulham look to have several creative options which can cause Chelsea problems.

Elsewhere, Hodgson will have some touch-and-go decisions with Dickson Etuhu and Erik Nevland looking to get the nod for inclusion in the matchday squad.

Chelsea arrive at their nearest top-flight neighbours will a slew of injury concerns of their own. New signing Yuri Zhirkov is sidelined with a knee injury while Juliano Belletti (Achilles) and defender Alex (groin) are also set to miss out for Carlo Ancelotti’s men. Also missing will be Joe Cole (knee) and Paulo Ferreira (knee) who are both set to return to training next week.

As standard Didier Drogba (4/1 to score first) and Nicolas Anelka (9/2 to score first) will lead the line for Carlo Ancelotti’s men, while all eyes will continue to assess to so-called “diamond formation” which the Italian has introduced since arriving from AC Milan in the summer.

So far Ancelotti, who has recently been labelled the new Tinkerman, has erratically been chopping and changing his midfield line-up, making predicting the midfield-four a slightly more difficult task than usual. According to those in the know, after impressing at the Stadium of Light, Deco (5/1 to score) will be positioned at the top of the diamond. As a result, Frank Lampard (6/4 to score), who has been ineffective in “the hole” so far this season, is set to drop back a little further in midfield as he is more accustomed to do.

History is heavily in Chelsea’s favour, Fulham having won just one of their 16 previous Premier League meetings with their local rivals. Yet, after finishing seventh last season Fulham are no easy pushovers, and arguably a draw is the most likely result.

101predicts: Fulham 1 - Chelsea 1 (11/2)

Fulham 11/2; Draw 13/5; Chelsea 4/7

Full match odds here.

Chelsea are on a roll. This could be a funny claim as we’ve played only two matches so far. But the larger fact is, Chelsea are yet to be beaten under Scolari: in friendlies with top teams, in FA Community Shield, and in the Premier League.

Man Utd have made a typically bad start, but only this time, there is a belief that it’s a reflection of their squad strength and depth. Plus, Rio Ferdinand would be out for a month.

Liverpool played as if they don’t want to give themselves a chance of making it ‘their season’. Complete lack of desire and indifference from their matchwinners very pleasantly surprised me.

Arsenal got a big away win at Goodison Park and that’s big enough reason to think they go back to their fourth-place form. Every time they get a good win, they compensate that with some poor football and put themselves where they belong.

Now Chelsea has won two in two. Chelsea thoroughly deserved to win both matches. The new system seems to be working well. The system also seems to use our resources to the bext possible extent.

The big players are on form and are delivering the goods. We’ve got a last minute winner and a couple of comeback wins.

Perfect recipe for a season start, as these type of results get you three points and also gets the team together and improves the team morale.

As I said earlier, Chelsea have a fairly easy first couple of months this season. Some slip ups from our rivals and some no-nonsense performance from us would see us top the table by Christmas by six points.

This is a wild guess, but the point I’m trying to make is, for once the fixtures list seems to help us get a good lead and momentum.

Fulham was one of the ‘easy fixtures’ I was referring to. See, I’m not being arrogant here. Fulham is no match to Chelsea otherwise they would also be playing champions league.

I know they had a fantastic last season finishing seventh and all. They also beat hapless Pompey in their first match. Still, I have a feeling that Chelsea will win, with our first clean sheet of the season.

Now Fulham have got Damien Duff. I must say I love this guy. I always liked Duff and I was sad to see him go. Even if Duff signs for Chelsea today, he can be a good squad player but that’s what he exactly did not want.

He wanted to play in the first team, which Chelsea could not promise. I’m sure we all have great memories of Damien Duff. I think I can talk for all of us, while recollecting the best Duff moment in Chelsea: that goal against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge. Man, it was a killer goal!

I wonder where Duff will play for them. I don’t recollect Fulham playing with a formation that had a winger.

Chelsea will line up in a 4-4-2 narrow diamond formation. That’s a given. I kinda like this formation now. We have played narrow 4-4-2 diamond many times before. This was also known as the 4-1-2-1-2 formation. This was the formation that Jose Mourinho used when Shevchenko and Ballack came in to the side.

There were also other occasions where we used 4-1-2-1-2. The big difference is, we have all committed and training intensely for 4-1-2-1-2. It is not being used as a stop gap formation or a makeshit formation.

The fact that we have identified and recognised this formation as our flagship formation does make it more effective, due to the training efforts around it, familiarity on the pitch and especially Ancelotti’s expertise on this formation.

Last match, Chelsea also played the much dreaded (by the Milan fans) 4-3-2-1 christmas tree formation. It’s fair to say that it was pretty effective. Carlo has identified this as the formation for the away matches.

In home matches, you need an extra man up front to finish chances and in away matches, you need that extra man to create the chances through the packed defences. It makes theoretical sense and if the Sunderland match was any indication, it worked on the pitch too.

Ancelotti explains this from another angle:

When we play with two players behind one striker, we can press the opponents better when we are without the ball because these two players, Deco and Kalou, can work on the central midfielders [of the opposition].

The diamond is a little bit different, because our offensive midfielder has to play against the two central players and when we defend, it is more difficult to close the space and to press.

The first way I think is better away from home. When there is not space, it is difficult to play, not only for Lampard but, for example, for Kaka at Milan last season it was very difficult to play there without space.

It is a very important position in midfield but it is more difficult to play. It is easier to play in front of the defence because you have the space to play.

I’d start with the same team that started against Sunderland. That is, Cech, Terry, Ivanovic, Bosingwa, Ashley Cole, Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Deco, Kalou and Drogba. That’s because I think we’re going to play 4-3-2-1. If we are playing 4-1-2-1-2, I’d even pick Sturridge over Kalou to partner Drogba.

I’m hoping that Deco recovers his form this season. In a narrow diamond midfield, it makes perfect sense to have Deco in the attacking tip as this role plays right behind the strikers just like Gerrard would play behind Torres. It is a bit more forward than a regular attacking midfielder.

Deco has the skills and creativity to be a good No. 10 player while Lampard is more of a box-to-box midfielder. For this reason, I’d love to see Deco play behind the strikers while Ballack and Lampard play in the midfield.

League leaders Tottenham (every dog...) are playing at 1330. So, if results go our way, we could be leading the table by Sunday night.

First ‘decent’ opposition for Ancelotti as he prepares to beat one of the best premier league managers of last season. Prediction: Fulham 0-2 Chelsea. Lampard (for sure) and Drogba/Malouda.

And do follow our fantasy premier league journey. For all I care, this could very well be the gameweek where I leapfrog 137 places and become number 1 in the table (if each of my players scores a hattrick, that is). Cheers!

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