LIVE STREAM:Fulham vs Chelsea

Fulham host Chelsea at Craven Cottage on Monday night, with former Real Madrid and Liverpool teammates Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso meeting as opposing managers for the first time. Arbeloa begins his first season in charge of Fulham against a Chelsea squad reshaped by another massive summer spending spree.

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Fulham produced a functional home record last season without controlling matches consistently. They averaged 1.24 xG and conceded 1.42 xGA, with both figures sitting closer to the bottom half than the leading teams. Their home xG ratio of 0.47 ranked 14th in the Premier League.

They still scored regularly enough at Craven Cottage, with both teams finding the net in 53% of their matches and Fulham failing to score in only 16%. Their attacking output was therefore more reliable than their overall chance creation suggested.

The summer brought targeted recruitment rather than a major rebuild. Gonzalo Garcia joined from Real Madrid for £34m and Cesar Palacios arrived for £9m, while Sasa Lukic and Issa Diop both moved to Ipswich for fees of £9m.

Arbeloa has warned that Fulham face a difficult opening month and still require further work, although he believes Garcia and Palacios possess the ambition and qualities required for his system. He has also praised the structure left by Marco Silva following four seasons at the club, describing the transition as straightforward.

Chelsea’s spending has been on a different scale, with a net outlay of around £193m. Morgan Rogers arrived for £117m, Maxence Lacroix cost £52m, Marco Palestra joined for £48m and Geovany Quenda was signed for £43m.

Those deals were partly offset by Andrey Santos joining Manchester United for £48m and Marc Cucurella moving to Real Madrid for £47m. Alonso now has a deep squad and no European football to manage, giving Chelsea more time to prepare between league matches.

The two managers remain close friends after playing together for Real Madrid and Liverpool, with their families spending time together in London during the week. Both have made clear that their friendship will be put aside during the match.

Fulham will be without Tom Cairney following surgery on his left knee, while Joachim Andersen is suspended. Arbeloa must therefore begin without two experienced members of his squad.