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Fulham Leno, Castagne, Bassey, Cuenca, Robinson, King, Berge, Bobb, Iwobi, Palacios, Garcia.

Subs: Lecomte, Tete, Reed, Rodrigo Muniz, Kevin, Charles, Sessegnon, Smith Rowe, De Fougerolles.

Chelsea Sanchez, Acheampong, Lacroix, Colwill, Gusto, James, Lavia, Hato, Palmer, Joao Pedro, Rogers. Subs: Penders, Barco, Pedro Neto, Fernandez, Bynoe-Gittens, Welbeck, Quendal, Chavarria, Estevao.

Referee John Brooks

It is a necessary reset. Although it would be pushing it to say that Chelsea have switched from development centre to retirement home, even after the signings of Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck, there has been a clear shift in strategy this summer. Some grownups are in the room at last and, for Xabi Alonso, the hope is that bringing in more experience will help a squad still packed with youngsters show more composure when adversity strikes.

Discipline was a problem for Chelsea last season: they had 11 red cards in all competitions and a lot of the wounds were self-inflicted. Chelsea were impetuous, on the receiving end of too many bookings for dissent and prone to collapsing at the first sign of trouble. No wonder Alonso, who was the epitome of calm during his playing career, has focused on maintaining “emotional control” before opening his tenure as manager with Monday’s trip to Fulham.

It will be a test of Chelsea’s mentality. Craven Cottage has been the setting for some spectacular implosions during the BlueCo era, the path to two 2-1 victories for Fulham over their neighbours smoothed by João Félix earning a red card on his Chelsea debut in 2023 and by Marc Cucurella getting himself sent off after 22 minutes last season.

Preamble

Good evening and welcome to live coverage of Fulham v Chelsea at Craven Cottage. A west London derby, involving the last two managers of Real Madrid, should a solid entertainment option, especially as the alternatives on UK television include Street Cops: Catching the Yobs, Donnie Swaggart* and a repeat of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in which Marty says his grave is being disturbed, and Jeff uncovers a plan to kidnap the heir to a fortune.

Álvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso will surely last longer in SW6 than they did in Madrid, where a P45 was luzzed in their direction after roughly half a season each. Arbeloa’s task is to maintain the mid-table security that Marco Silva brought to Fulham, who have finished between 10th and 13th in the four seasons since they were promoted. If it goes really well, and he’s feeling frisky, Arbeloa might even take Fulham into Europe for the first time since 2011-12.

Qualifying for Europe is the bare minimum for Alonso, especially as Chelsea failed to achieve that last season. For the ninth richest club in the world to finish tenth domestically might be described in some cultures as sub-optimal. But in the short term, the lack of European football could be a blessing in disguise as Alonso tries to stabilise a club that has been all over the show in recent years.

With Alonso in charge, Chelsea have the potential to take a shortcut back towards the top of the Premier League. There’s an argument that, on paper, only Arsenal have a stronger squad. It’s time to see whether they are worth a damn on the pitch.

Kick off 8pm.

* Alas, this isn’t a mash-up of Donnie Darko, Sweeney Todd and Taggart.