Ahead of Chelsea’s west London derby against Fulham this Saturday, there has been a lot of talk about Estevao Willian.
It is to be expected after the impact that he made in Chelsea‘s 5-1 demolition of West Ham United last Friday.
The 18-year-old was drafted into the team at the last minute after Cole Palmer felt something in his groin during the warm-up and managed to provide an assist for Enzo Fernandez.
However, Estevao is not the only attacker Fulham need to worry about heading into their game against Chelsea.
Estevao of Chelsea during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Chelsea
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Liam Delap terrorised Fulham’s defence last season
Liam Delap is perhaps not bringing as much excitement as Estevao and Joao Pedro right now, but for former Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge, he was a “very exciting” player last season.
Fulham witnessed that as he terrorised their defence in both of their two Premier League fixtures against his former club Ipswich Town.
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In Fulham’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich at the start of the 2024/25 campaign, it was Delap who scored for Kieran McKenna’s side.
In the reverse fixture, the big centre-forward netted again, this time from a penalty which he won himself.
Fulham could not contain Delap in either game and now have to deal with him in a much stronger team.
Paul Merson wanted to see Delap against West Ham after Chelsea’s blank in their opening Premier League fixture versus Crystal Palace and got his wish. The Arsenal legend and Chelsea supporter is now likely to see him start again on Saturday.
Liam Delap celebrates scoring during VisitMalta Weekender - Chelsea FC v AC Milan
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Liam Delap likely to start against Fulham after Cole Palmer blow
While Palmer has not been ruled out of Chelsea’s upcoming fixture, the attacking midfielder looks like a doubt.
Palmer missed training on Tuesday, so that groin problem has clearly not gone away. Should the 23-year-old not recover in time for the west London derby, you would expect Delap to keep his spot in the team with Pedro playing off him again.
It did the trick against West Ham and there is no reason why it cannot bring Chelsea more success on the weekend and going forward.