You won't hear Luiz Felipe Scolari blaming the weather if Chelsea FC fail to beat Fulham FC in Sunday's festive west London derby.

The Blues have a team packed with Latin stars like midfield ace Deco, and Whites supporters might hope the big names from down the road at Stamford Bridge will literally freeze on the big day.

But the possibility of snow whiting the Whites' turf doesn't scare Scolari.

"I have to say I was afraid about the weather before I came," he said. "But it is no different to that which I know. In my city in south Brazil the weather is sometimes zero, minus-one, minus-two, minus-three - the same as here."