Isn’t it remarkable how everyone plays a hell of a lot better when Scott Parker’s handbrake is released? Fulham fans need no convincing of the merits of life after the touchline mannequin, but Bournemouth’s look a lot better under Gary O’Neill. The Cherries appeared to be nailed on for an immediate return to the Championship at the end of August but they are unbeaten in five games since Parker’s sacking, with two impressive wins over Leicester City and Nottingham Forest, and have conceded only four goals. The boost prompted by promoting O’Neill into the hotseat sees Bournemouth head for SW6 this afternoon having leaped above their hosts and sitting snugly in mid-table.

They will be looking to extend a seven-match unbeaten run at Craven Cottage that stretches all the way back to April 1992, when goals from Gary Brazil and Sean Farrell secured a Division Three win for Fulham. Marco Silva, disappointed by the Whites’ first consecutive defeats of what had previously been a positive Premier League campaign, will hope to have stemmed the flow of goals conceded with hard work at Motspur Park this week. The Cottagers have gone seven league games without keeping a clean sheet, since Marek Rodak shut out Wolves back in August and was promptly dropped, and have let in sixteen goals in that run – including seven in their last two outings.

There may well be a case for introducing Issa Diop into a back four that is likely to still have an experimental look to it, especially in the continued absence of Kenny Tete. The versatile Bobby Decordova-Reid deputised at right back at the London Stadium and could well be preferred to Kevin Mbabu once again this afternoon, but Diop – waiting for his hundredth appearance in English football – would be better equipped to deal with the movement and physicality of Dominic Solanke, scorer of that sensational goal just after half time last December than Tim Ream, notwithstanding how outstanding our American veteran has been at the heart of the defence on his own return to the Premier League.

Silva’s biggest dilemma is likely to present itself at the other end of the pitch. Aleksandar Mitrovic, so vital to Fulham’s fortunes, completed a couple of days training at the tail end of the week but it would be still be a big risk to pitch the Serbian striker into what feels like something of a six-pointer: even at this stage of the season. The Portuguese head coach was insistent during yesterday’s press conference that the Whites can score goals without the mercurial number nine (pointing to the pair of strikes over the past couple of weeks when he wasn’t on the pitch), but there is no doubt that Fulham are a totally different beast when he isn’t in the side. Playing Mitrovic when he isn’t fully fit risks both the Whites being without their focal point for a longer period as well as potentially placing his World Cup in jeopardy.

Bournemouth, boosted by the potential investment proposed by prospective new owner Bill Foley, look totally transformed from the traumatic first few weeks of the campaign when Parker appeared largely powerless to prevent another Premier League relegation appearing on his CV. There seems to be terrific harmony around Dean Court these days, with technical director Richard Hughes and assistant Simon Hughes carrying currency amongst the Cherries’ fanbase on account of their legendary playing careers at the club, and O’Neill putting together a compelling case to be given the managerial job on a permanent basis – regardless of whether he really wants the role.

The Cherries have always had quality within their ranks. You do have to wonder whether Ryan Fredericks, excellent at right back recently, regrets taking West Ham’s considerably bigger pay cheque after running down his contract at Craven Cottage despite Slavisa Jokanovic’s side heading back into the top flight. It will be brilliant to see him back at Fulham’s historic home in any case. Philip Billing is still an imposing presence in central midfield, which will make the engine room battle with Harrison Reed and Joao Palhinha very watchable, whilst Ryan Christie’s return to goalscoring form might mean the promising Jaidon Anthony will have to settle for a spot on the bench again. When you consider that the Cherries still have David Brooks to return after his heart warming recovery from cancer, then there’s every chance that Bournemouth won’t be in the bottom three come May. You’d have got very long odds on that eventuality after Parker’s side had conceded sixteen goals in three consecutive defeats before he received his P45 on August 31st.

Fulham will chomping at the bit to reverse an alarming little blip over the past couple of weeks that threatens to derail one of the most promising starts to a top-flight campaign in the club’s history. The Whites’ home form will be what sustains them as a Premier League club, just as it was in their thirteen-year stint under Mohamed Al-Fayed. Silva’s side – far more adventurous that what came before – have already collected seven points and scored eight goals in their four games at Craven Cottage this term. They only mustered ten points and nine goals at home in the entirety of a miserable 2020/21 campaign under Parker. A return to winning ways this afternoon would be just what the doctor ordered, but it will be much easier said than done.

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