Fulham’s feint hopes of embarking on that European tour that we were singing about earlier in the season appear to have been extinguished by three successive defeats. The Whites were bold at Anfield on Wednesday night and pretty unfortunate to be beaten, especially after being on the wrong side of another debatable penalty decision. But there was evidence, even at an in-form Liverpool and without several key players, that Marco Silva will never abandon the style and ambition that characterises his management – and that remains really refreshing.
Silva is adamant that his side have plenty to play for. He has set his players a new target heading into the final four ‘Cup finals’ of the campaign – beating the 53 points amassed by Roy Hodgson’s side in 2008/09, which was a club record for the top flight. It is a tall order, but Bernd Leno’s targeting of three wins shows just how high the confidence and belief remains in the squad despite the recent setbacks. Fulham are far more threatening in the Premier League than on any of their previous brief stays and the fact that the Whites welcome Leicester to Craven Cottage without being remotely worried about relegation is still a significant achievement.
The Foxes, on the other hand, are only above the drop zone on goal difference. Dean Smith has added some solidity to a side that has failed to keep a clean sheet in nineteen league fixtures, a woeful statistic that represents a club record in the Premier League. They might easily have picked up three precious points rather than one against Everton earlier this week had Jamie Vardy been handed the responsibility of taking the decisive spot-kick ahead of James Maddison, but Smith still believes they will have enough to secure safety. Being unbeaten in three games after losing eight of the last nine, a miserable run which eventually saw City’s top brass dispense with the services of Brendan Rodgers.
Smith will have to do without Kelechi Iheanacho up front but is hopeful of having the forward available before the end of the season as he has made good progress in recovering from his groin complaint. Leicester should have defenders Johnny Evans and Ricardo Pereira back from a virus and a hamstring injury respectively to protect Daniel Iversen, who has been in excellent form since taking over from Danny Ward in goal eight games ago. Despite their predicament, Leicester have plenty of weapons to hurt Fulham, who know all about Maddison’s ability to dictate a game from his time in the Championship with Norwich City. They have suffered at the hands of Vardy too – so Smith’s tweaking of the Foxes’ gameplan to feed the veteran striker’s willing runs will need to be appreciated. There have been concerns about the sharpness of Youri Tielemans but the classy midfielder can make the difference in the engine room.
Fulham are determined to finish the season strongly and, even if they have lost their last three games by an odd goal, the performances have been pretty impressive. There is no doubt that Silva’s striking options have been diminished by the absence of Aleksandar Mitrovic, who completes his suspension this afternoon, even if Carlos Vinicius scored a splendid equaliser against Manchester City and put in one of his best performances for the club in the narrow defeat at Anfield. The season-ending injuries to Tim Ream and Andreas Pereira were another brutal body blow, but captain Tom Cairney shone at Liverpool and the Whites should see more of the ball this afternoon.
MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Adarabioyo, Diop; Palhinha, Reed; Wilson, Willian, Cairney; Vinicius. Subs: Rodak, Cedric Soares, Duffy, Lukic, Decordova-Reid, James, Solomon, Harris, Kebano.
