Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Fulham was a rollercoaster ride for Joao Pedro (£7.6m) owners.
It was mostly good: a goal, three bonus points and an injury to a potential positional rival.
It wasn’t quite a perfect afternoon, however. In the absence of Cole Palmer (£10.4m), it was Enzo Fernandez (£6.5m), and not Pedro, who stepped up to take Chelsea’s second-half spot-kick.
Here are our Scout Notes from Stamford Bridge.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 3: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Cunha injury, Bruno in the ’10’ + Sesko’s fitness
DELAP INJURY LATEST
Pedro and Liam Delap (£6.4m) have both been playing in the same team in the last two Gameweeks. Longer term, however, and with midweek UEFA Champions League games coming up, the minutes might be more shared between the two up top.
So the sight of Delap clutching his hamstring after a first-half sprint, and subsequently exiting the field, might have bumped Pedro’s xMins a bit.
Enzo Maresca was downbeat on Delap’s injury after full-time.
“Liam’s injury doesn’t look good in terms of, he was full speed, hamstring, so that required, like always, weeks.” – Enzo Maresca on Liam Delap in his post-match presser
“Hopefully, it’s not long but in this kind of case, this kind of injury, I don’t know, it can be six to eight weeks.” – Enzo Maresca on Liam Delap to TNT Sports
Tyrique George (£4.9m) was brought on to play centre-forward after Delap exited, with Pedro staying in the ’10’ role.
“When you have two strikers, it’s enough. When one of them is injured for different weeks, probably it’s not enough. Today we played more than one hour with Tyrique [George], and he did brilliant. The last game he played as a No.9 was Man United at home last year. Again, we try to use a different solution. If you remember last year, we used Pedro [Neto] in some games as a No.9. It’s because we are always looking for a solution, but for sure when you have two proper No.9s, it’s enough.” – Enzo Maresca
JACKSON REDEMPTION ARC?
But might Delap’s injury instead lead to an 11th-hour Chelsea career reprieve for Nicolas Jackson (£6.5m)?
Just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in. Jackson was set for a move to Bayern Munich, with a deal agreed and the player even conducting his medical on the same day that Delap’s hamstring twanged.
The Blues, however, have hit the ‘abort’ button.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea inform Bayern Munich they will not be proceeding with proposed loan of Nicolas Jackson after injury to Liam Delap. 24yo striker travelled to Germany for #FCBayern move but #CFC requested Senegal int’l returns to London @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/g4IypeWrHI
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 30, 2025
Jackson and his agent may not be too enamoured by this latest development but Bayern seem to have admitted defeat.
Pedro may still have fit competition come Gameweek 4, then.
SIX GOALS IN FIVE – BUT COULD HAVE BEEN SEVEN!
Pedro made it six goals in five competitive starts for the Blues, nodding in Fernandez’s corner. Interestingly, three of the Brazilian’s four attacking returns in 2025/26 have come from set plays.
Pedro was, like most of his Chelsea teammates, sub-par in the first half but improved after the break. He probably should have bagged a second, latching onto an excellent Trevoh Chalobah (£5.0m) pass but seeing the ball taken away from him by Bernd Leno (£5.0m).
And, as mentioned above, he was denied a chance to score from the spot when Enzo was given the nod to deputise for Palmer from 12 yards.
Estevao (£6.5m) was bright again and nearly scored with a low effort that Leno clawed out.
He’ll face more competition soon, however, with the arrival of Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4m). As a result, that will probably see Pedro Neto (£7.0m) feature more on Estevao’s flank rather than on the left.
CHALOBAH EARNS PRAISE
Chalobah was denied an assist when Pedro fluffed his lines but he did bag one for Chelsea’s penalty after his cross was handled.
He registered a joint-game-high three shots, too, and he’s now top of the defender table for goal attempts in 2025/26.
Above: Defenders sorted by shots in 2025/26
Securing a clean sheet, bonus points and DefCon returns, it was a dream afternoon for the centre-half. He is, until Sunday at least, top of the FPL points table among defenders.
We mentioned in pre-season that the right-sided centre-half spot at Chelsea seemed to carry the most DefCon potential. The problem, however, was the unreliability of starts.
And as good as Chalobah has been, Maresca keeps mentioning that he wants to give Wesley Fofana (£4.4m) minutes soon.
“Tosin is doing fantastic from last season. Trevoh, exactly the same since coming back in January. And we have now finally Wes [Fofana] back, that is another one that can help us after the international break.” – Enzo Maresca
Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.5m), who himself bagged DC points and nearly scored, might be the safer centre-half bet at present. Remember, ahead of Gameweek 1, Maresca said Tosin was the only one who could “do [the injured Levi Colwill’s ball-playing centre-half] job well”.
Elsewhere, Moises Caicedo (£5.5m), a DefCon machine in 2024/25, smashed the 12-contribution requirement on Saturday. Amid all the talk of the wingers, Enzo and Caicedo are Chelsea’s leading midfielders in FPL at present.
Above: Players involved in Chelsea v Fulham who bagged defensive contribution points
£4.5M KING DENIED FIRST GOAL
Josh King (£4.5m) made his third successive Premier League start on Saturday.
The budget-friendly midfielder was harshly denied a first Fulham goal when his well-taken finish was ruled out for a supposed foul by Rodrigo Muniz (£5.5m) in the build-up.
The young playmaker, again keeping Emile Smith Rowe (£5.9m) out of the side, burst through to have another shot saved midway through the first half. King nearly had an assist, too, when Timothy Castagne (£4.5m) was denied what looked like a certain goal by a Caicedo block.
“Wow. What a performance from him again. Wow. Personality on the ball and he understood very well all the moments how we should try to exploit some gaps.
“Off the ball, very hard work from him again, and he’s a top talent player and he’s deserving clear the chance.” – Marco Silva on Josh King
There was plenty of encouragement here for the Cottagers ahead of a favourable double-header at Craven Cottage. Aside from the moments involving King, Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) had two decent chances to score. Marco Silva’s side also kept Chelsea at bay for long periods, only really wilting – understandably so after some deflating VAR calls – late in the game.
