Chelsea V Fulham Barclays Premier League Match 21 -September 2013.Chelsea captain John Terry is likely to return after being rested in midweek.
Ramires sat out Wednesday's defeat by Basel through suspension but is available for domestic action, while Juan Mata will hope to earn a recall.Watch Chelsea V Fulham Live, Watch Chelsea V Fulham Live Stream, Watch Chelsea V Fulham Free Live Stream, Watch Chelsea V Fulham Online, Watch Chelsea V Fulham Online Free, Chelsea V Fulham Live, Chelsea V Fulham live stream Online.
Darren Bent is fit for Fulham but fellow forward Dimitar Berbatov will have a fitness test on a hamstring problem.
Bryan Ruiz's ankle injury means he joins Aaron Hughes, Matthew Briggs and Maarten Stekelenburg on the sidelines.
MATCH PREVIEW
The Premier League season is only four games old but the return of the 'Special One' has so far not been a 'perfect one' or a 'contented one'.
It will have been a long week for Jose Mourinho, which will have reminded him once again that he has inherited a very different Chelsea squad to the one he left six years ago.
It's clearly a team that he is still learning about. He's used 20 different players already in the opening four league matches, with varied success.
He has compared his side to "beautiful young eggs" but that is perhaps slightly misleading - the average age of the starting line-up in the defeat by Basel was 27.
Plenty of clubs would be satisfied with a return of seven points from a possible 12, but the fact that it's the lowest tally in the Roman Abramovich era shows how high the standards and expectations have become.
Mourinho isn't used to defeat, particularly at Stamford Bridge, where of course he's yet to lose in the Premier League. But his team selection and the response from them will be fascinating.
Fulham have often frustrated their west London neighbours, taking a point in all but one of the last five derbies.
Manager Martin Jol hasn't yet been able to field all his attacking talent at the same time and is still bedding in some of his new players but his team have only won twice and lost eight times in their last 12 matches.
Mourinho is never far away from any headline, but an unthinkable third straight defeat in eight days would be the only back page news on Sunday morning.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Fulham have only beaten Chelsea once in 34 league and cup meetings, a run spanning 34 years.
That solitary win was 1-0 at Craven Cottage in March 2006, when Luis Boa Morte scored the only goal.
Chelsea have not lost this fixture at home since October 1979, when Fulham won 2-0 in the old Second Division courtesy of goals by Gordon Davies and John Beck.
Fulham's last top-flight victory at Stamford Bridge came in March 1964.
Four of the last five league meetings have ended in draws.
Chelsea
With seven points from four games, the Blues have made their poorest start to a Premier League season since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 11 Premier League games at Stamford Bridge (W9, D2).
Their last home defeat was against near neighbours QPR on 2 January.
Jose Mourinho has never lost a Premier League home game (W48, D14).
If goals from strikers were excluded this season then Chelsea would be top of the table.
Fulham
The Whites are often considered poor travellers but they have claimed 12 league points away from Craven Cottage this calendar year, compared to just 11 on home turf.
Martin Jol's side have won two of their last 12 top-flight matches (W2, D2, L8).
Prior to this weekend, Fulham had conceded more corners than any other Premier League side so far this season (32).
They have managed only 11 shots from inside the penalty area this season, the lowest figure in this season's Premier League.