Alvaro Arbeloa says his friendship with Xabi Alonso will be put on hold for 90 minutes when Fulham host Chelsea in the opening Premier League game of the season on Monday.
The meeting at Craven Cottage will see the former Liverpool and Real Madrid team-mates face one another as managers for the first time in the Premier League.
“We are very good friends. For 90 minutes we will give everything for our clubs. For 90 minutes we are not friends. We both want to win that game,” Arbeloa said.
The pair played 46 Premier League matches together for Liverpool between 2007 and 2009, recording 28 wins, 14 draws and only four defeats.
Monday’s fixture is the first in Premier League history in which a manager’s first match in charge of a specific club comes against another manager who was his team-mate in the competition. Arbeloa and Alonso are also two of 11 managers making their first Premier League appearances in charge of their respective clubs on the opening matchday.
That is the highest number of new managers on the opening day of a single campaign, excluding 1992-93. The previous record was nine, set in 2012-13 and 2016-17.
Arbeloa and Alonso also shared the Real Madrid coaching role last season. Alonso was dismissed in January before Arbeloa took charge for the remainder of the campaign.
“We analysed Chelsea, the way we do every team. I know him well because I watched so many of his games, but we know it won’t be easy,” Arbeloa said.
“They’re a very strong squad with top players. They have made good signings. We have to be ready.”
Asked whether he had spoken to Alonso before the game, Arbeloa added: “A few days ago, but we didn’t talk about football. Our families are coming over to London.”
Chelsea are looking to recover from a disappointing 2025-26 Premier League season, when they finished 10th and failed to qualify for any European competition this term.
They have made 11 signings during the transfer window, including the expensive arrivals of Morgan Rogers and Maxence Lacroix. Experienced forwards Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson have also joined the club.
Alonso accepts there is a substantial challenge ahead, but believes Chelsea are well placed to begin the new campaign.
“It’s a challenge for everyone. We are all together in this new start of the season but the main thing for me are the targets and goals that we share all together,” Alonso said.
“We have the ambition to have a great year. We don’t need to think about what’s going to happen late in the season.
“What we can control is what we do, how we start the season, how we prepare for games. The focus is Fulham. The Premier League is challenging; every game is challenging.
“We are going to be improving game by game. I am sure that the team that starts the Premier League and the one that’s in November, December, will be better because it’s a process, everything takes time. But we feel that we have a good start and that’s so important.”
Players to watch
Fulham’s Shea Charles could make his Premier League debut after becoming the most expensive Northern Irish player when he moved from Southampton.
Charles made 76 appearances in all competitions for Southampton, scoring six goals and providing two assists.
For Chelsea, Welbeck is set to play in his 19th Premier League season. He has appeared in at least one match in every campaign since 2008-09.
That would be the joint-highest number of seasons played by a striker in Premier League history, alongside Jermain Defoe. Welbeck will also be hoping to build on his form from last season, when he scored 13 Premier League goals for Brighton in 2025-26.
That total matched the record for the most goals by a Brighton player in a top-flight season, set by Glenn Murray in 2018-19.
Chelsea favoured despite poor recent form
Chelsea lost their most recent meeting with Fulham, going down 2-1 in January, but have not suffered consecutive defeats by the Cottagers in all competitions since a sequence of three losses between April 1977 and October 1979.
The Blues have not won their opening Premier League match in any of the past three seasons, drawing twice and losing once. They last went four consecutive opening games without a victory between 1995-96 and 1998-99.
Chelsea’s late-season form was also a concern. Since the start of March, they have taken only seven points, the fewest among teams that avoided relegation from the top flight last season. They lost eight of their 11 league matches during that period, while recording two wins and one draw.
Fulham have won six Premier League home matches in 2026, with only Manchester United winning more, having recorded eight victories. The Cottagers have also won six of their past nine matches at Craven Cottage, losing three.
However, Fulham have won their opening fixture in only one of their past six Premier League seasons, drawing twice and losing three times. Their sole victory in that run came against Everton in 2023-24.
This will be the fourth time Fulham have begun a Premier League season with a London derby. They lost each of the previous three, against Arsenal in 2007-08 and 2020-21, and Crystal Palace in 2018-19.
Opta’s win probability gives Chelsea a 50.1% chance of victory, compared with 26.7% for Fulham and 23.2% for a draw.
