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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

This will be both Fulham’s Álvaro Arbeloa and Chelsea’s Xabi Alonso’s first Premier League match as managers. The pair played 46 league games alongside one another for Liverpool from 2007 to 2009, losing just four of those (W28 D14) – it’s the first time that any manager’s first Premier League game has come against another manager he was a teammate of as a player in the competition.

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).

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).