Opposition watch: Who do Fulham need to be wary of in Chelsea squad

The Premier League is now under way, with Arsenal beating Coventry 3-0 on the opening night of the season.

And there will be a full weekend of matches on Saturday and Sunday before Fulham finally get their season going.

The Cottagers face Chelsea at Craven Cottage on Monday night to get their 2026/27 season started.

It will also be Alvaro Arbeloa’s first competitive match as Fulham manager and he will take on a very familiar face in Xabi Alonso, his former teammate at Liverpool and Real Madrid and his predecessor at Los Blancos.

On the pitch, it is also two sides who have undergone significant changes throughout the summer, with both Chelsea and Fulham very active in the transfer market in terms of both players coming in and out.

And with Chelsea spending as much as they have, there are plenty of players to watch out for - we look at the three you need to keep an eye on.

After last season, when Joao Pedro scored 15 goals and assisted four times in 35 Premier League matches, there is no doubt that he was the club’s player of the season.

And in pre-season, after bizarrely being snubbed by Brazil, he has simply picked up where he left off, scoring plenty of goals and once again looking like Chelsea’s most important attacking outlet.

The Brazilian is capable of scoring with both feet, with his head and from distance, as well as dropping deeper to let players run off him.

Fulham will need to be wary of him, as under Xabi Alonso, he appears to be a player who can absolutely thrive.

Hard to include a new signing in this list, but in pre-season, Marco Palestra has been a very promising player for the Blues since his move from Atalanta.

Capable of playing at both left wing back and right wing back, Palestra looks to be a player who could be a consistent threat down the wings under Alonso.

Ever since Jose Mourinho, Chelsea have threatened the most when deploying a back three and Alonso is set to continue that trend.

Palestra could well be an absolutely essential member of the squad and Fulham will need to be wary of his overlapping runs and ability to play threatening balls into the box.

For the first time in a competitive Premier League game, it is expected that we will see both Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers line up together.

In Xabi Alonso’s 3-4-2-1 formation, Palmer and Rogers will sit in just behind Joao Pedro and on paper at least, that is a hell of an attack.

Palmer did not have his best season last year, but still managed 10 goals in his 26 matches, while Rogers scored 14 goals and assisted 12 times in 55 matches for Aston Villa last season, as they strode to Europa League glory.

Now the pair, and Pedro too, will be a handful together and Fulham’s experienced defence are going to need to keep their wits about them if they are go get a positive result out of this match.