To the unaware, it is difficult to convey the historical importance of the South West Six derby. Fulham, London’s oldest professional football club, turned down the offer of Gus Mearns to play at Stamford Bridge as they were quite content with life at Craven Cottage. It is, therefore, Fulham Football Club who inflicted Chelsea not just on the London landscape but on the rest of the planet. Since our noisier neighbours still play within the old borough of Fulham rather than the leafier suburb from which they take the name, Fulham fans have always reminded them that there is ‘only one team in Fulham’.

The derby, dismissed as an afterthought by most followers of football as an inconsequential skirmish, will have the eyes of the world upon it tonight. For the first time in forty years, the boys in black and white go into the game above their local rivals, now shorn of Roman’s ill-gotten Russian roubles, and it can’t be blamed on the strange decision to dispense with the services of Thomas Tuchel. Graham Potter might be under pressure after winning just one of his last eight matches and being dumped out of both domestic cup competitions, but Chelsea being in turmoil is a regular occurrence in recent years. The bigger story is how Marco Silva has quietly turned his easy-on-the-eye Championship winners into a top flight force to be reckoned with, defying both the pre-season predictions and the Whites’ yo-yo arc over the past four years.

Fulham’s record against the Blues is actually worse than their recent Premier League performances. They have managed one victory in their last 21 attempts, secured by Luis Boa Morte’s left shin in 2006, when Chris Coleman’s rag-tag outfit were battling against the drop and Jose Mourinho was motoring towards another title. That victory, the product of a tactical masterstroke that saw the former Fulham captain put Steed Malbranque on Claude Makele and stop the distribution from the back, prompted pitch invasions and fisticuffs. The win – which came after a Didier Drogba goal was chalked off for handball and William Gallas reacted to his sending off by miming to cut the throat of a supporter in the Johnny Haynes stand and delivering a thumbs down gesture, was Fulham’s first over their rivals in 27 years. There have been feisty draws since, often secured by Clint Dempsey, but another success has proven elusive.

Opportunity knocks this evening with Potter rumoured to be unlikely to survive another damaging defeat. Whatever disarray might be unfolding at the other end of the Fulham Road, Silva’s side are one of the form sides in the top flight. Many of us were worried about how the post-World Cup period might unfold after the agony of a pair of added-time defeats to the Manchester clubs, but Fulham have responded with four consecutive wins – only conceding to a sensational James Ward-Prowse free-kick. The Whites haven’t won four top-flight fixtures in a row since 1966, when the much missed George Cohen was in a side arguably as entertaining as the current team.

Evolution rather than revolution has been the secret behind Silva’s understated success. Several key figures from the club’s recent campaigns – Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, Harrison Reed, Neeskens Kebano, Bobby Decordova-Reid and, of course, Aleksandar Mitrovic – appear to be far better footballers with the benefit of his coaching. Shrewd recruitment saw the likes of Bernd Leno, Joao Palhinha, Andreas Pereira and Willian supplement the squad over the summer – and each of those signings have slotted seamlessly into a side that has relished the opportunity to attack the top flight after two seasons of timidity. Fulham have only been outclassed once, by Newcastle, this season – and there are even mitigating circumstances, in the shape of Nathaniel Chalobah’s stupid sending off after seven minutes, there.

Silva has struck a serious tone all week ahead of his first SW6 derby. Fulham haven’t proved anything yet, it is far too early to consider continental football and ‘they are always Chelsea’. The Blues certainly seem to rouse themselves for a fixture that apparently doesn’t matter to them. Potter will have to contend with a lengthy injury list as well as the dreaded vote of confidence. Their latest signing – Joao Felix, who cost £9m for a season-long loan from our old friends at Atletico Madrid, might make his debut tonight and, in any case, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, a Fulham scourge from yesteryear, is available again after a back problem.

The mere might of talent at Potter’s disposal should make this game a foregone conclusion. But this Fulham side are fearless – and will give it a good go. If they can keep eleven players on the pitch this time (Antonee Robinson was dismissed for a wild tackle when the Whites were on top at the Cottage two years ago), then the Whites could conjure up another memorable night under the Cottage lights. They will have to do without the suspended Mitrovic, but they have found goals from other sources in recent weeks. Carlos Vinicius, the likeliest candidate to the lead the line in the Serbian’s absence, has been improving in the last few weeks. Whatever happens, it certainly won’t be dull.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Diop, Ream; Palhinha, Reed; Decordova-Reid, Willian, Pereira; Vinicius. Subs: Rodak, Adarabioyo, Kurzawa, Chalobah, Cairney, Wilson, Harris, Solomon, James.