This weekend sees Fulham make the trip north to face Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
A solid set of recent results see Rovers comfortably sat in 10th place and in with a serious shot of securing a play-off place, which might have been considered a surprise at the start of the season. Blackburn have been in brilliant form of late, losing just two of their last fourteen league games. They thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 5-0 in an eye-catching romp at Hillsborough. That result typified their free-scoring style, with Mowbray’s men having netted 43 goals in 30 league games – which is the second highest of anyone outside the top six. Former Newcastle forward Adam Armstrong has scored nine of them, whilst also laying on six assists.
Rovers’ recent run is all the more impressive given their lengthy injury list. The outstanding Bradley Dack, probably one of the most consistent creative midfielders in the Championship, is likely to miss most of 2020 after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament against Wigan back in December. Former Fulham midfielder Lewis Holtby will be missing as well after picking up a knee problem in last weekend’s draw at Middlesbrough. Six other first-teamers are definitely out of tomorrow’s game.
Rovers will be able to count on the services of impressive young right back Ryan Nyambe, who is forging a name for himself as one of the Championship’s brightest talents. The 22 year-old Namibian international has been on the radar of a whole host of top clubs, but Blackburn will be hoping he is willing to continue his encouraging development at Ewood Park as Mowbray looks to build a squad able to compete for promotion.
Fulham’s injury issues appear to be clearing up a little. Both Anthony Knockaert and Harrison Reed will have late fitness tests to see if they can play any part tomorrow, whilst Terence Kongolo could make his first league appearance for the Whites alongside a recalled Tim Ream at the heart of the defence. Fulham could record a first league double over Rovers since the famous one that put them on the brink of promotion from Division One in 2000-01, after goals from former Blackburn man Tom Cairney and Aleksandar Mitrovic secured a 2-0 success at Craven Cottage in August. Parker will want his side to stretch their impressive run of a single defeat in their last seven games, but the Fulham boss will know they will need to be far more disciplined than they were in last weekend’s win over Huddersfield to take home all three points.
MY FULHAM XI (4-3-3-): Rodak; Odoi, Hector, Kongolo, Bryan; McDonald, Cairney (c), Onomah; Decordova-Reid, Mitrovic, Cavaleiro.
My prediction: Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Fulham
