Fulham make the short journey to Selhurst Park this afternoon as they bid to match their best-ever top flight start having edged past lowly Luton Town at Craven Cottage in the week. Standing between Marco Silva’s side and matching the achievements of Chris Coleman’s apparent relegation fodder in 2003 and Roy Hodgson’s upwardly mobile climbers in 2008 are Hodgson himself and Ray Lewington. The former Fulham manager has made a swift recovery from the illness that prevented him taking charge of Palace’s defeat at Aston Villa last weekend, with both he and Lewington assured of a rapturous reception from the travelling supporters today.
Hodgson, still going strong at 74, rescued Palace from serious strife when he replaced Patrick Viera last April and felt the love from every corner of Craven Cottage after an entertaining 2-2 in Fulham’s penultimate game of last season. The Whites have never beaten an opponent managed by Hodgson, who shared a bit of mutual appreciation with Silva when working as an analyst on the Whites’ win at Palace last Boxing Day. The Palace recovery was – in typical Hodgson style – built on home form: the Eagles have amassed fourteen points from seven league fixtures at Selhurst Park since the start of his second spell in charge, but they are also more adventurous, allowing the talents of Ebere Eze – once on Fulham’s books – to shine.
Hodgson appears to unlocked a new level to Odsonne Edouard’s goalscoring talent. The former Celtic centre forward has scored five times in six matches this term, having managed seven strikes in 37 matches last season and nine in 42 appearances in 2021/22 having moved south of the border after scoring 88 goals in 179 games at Celtic Park. You can see plenty of Bobby Zamora, whose poor goalscoring return in his first campaign at Craven Cottage was compensated for by his work ethic and hold-up play before he become one of the continent’s most consistent performers as Hodgson’s side embarked on that remarkable run all the way to Hamburg (twice).
Palace can match Hodgson’s points haul from his first spell in charge in 2020/21 – ten from eight games – with a win this afternoon and they will be a tough proposition on their tight pitch and buoyant home following. The Hodgson sides have always been built on a strong foundation and Marc Guehi is available to partner Joachim Anderson at the heart of their back four this afternoon. Winning a midfield battle that will likely need Joao Palhinha and Harrison Reed to get the better of Cheick Doucoure and Will Hughes will be essential to stopping Eze, who has embarked on the most dribbles in the top flight this term, from working his magic.
Silva won’t be able to work from the template that saw the Whites stroll to success in SE25 last December as Hodgson’s side won’t be as criminally wide open as that Palace team proved to be. The Portuguese head coach’s selection will be interested, especially as he has publicly professed his satisfaction with the fact that Aleksandar Mitrovic, a scorer at Selhurst last season, was not replaced at the end of the transfer window. Silva told the press on Thursday that Raúl Jiménez’s first Fulham goal ‘is coming, whilst also lauding the impact of Carlos Vinicius who scored within three minutes of replacing the Mexican last weekend. That Vinicius, who finished the season so strong, made his first appearance of the season in mid-September with Rodrigo Muniz preferred to him seemed strange – but the Fulham head coach insists all three of his senior strikers will share the load and he has different options for different opponents. Rumours that Vinicius was being punished for damaging captain Tom Cairney’s windscreen at Motspur Park with an errant shot are unfounded.
The Whites have struggled to be clinical or creative this term, with Andreas Pereira undoubtedly affected by his broken leg and Willian impacted by injury at the start of the season. The two combined to set up the winner against Luton, although dynamism was also added by the introduction of Alex Iwobi just after the hour against the Hatters. Fulham’s keep-ball looks stylish and can be slick when played at pace, but risks looking laboured and lacking a punch when it isn’t accompanied by imagination and penetration. Tim Ream did supply his first Premier League goal last December – on the same day that the American extended his Fulham contract into an eighth season – and the St. Louis’ native is clearly in good goalscoring form having poached an equaliser at Manchester City earlier this month.
I don’t think the ageless centre back will be moonlighting at the other end of the pitch any time soon, but his presence alongside Issa Diop – who completed the most passes of any player in the Premier League this season as the Whites sidefooted Luton into submission last Saturday – is pivotal to helping Silva’s side enjoy the lion’s share of possession. He should have his compatriot Antonee Robinson back at left back this afternoon despite Timmy Castagne’s encouraging home debut. The one plus point from Fulham’s struggles in front of goal post-Mitrovic has been their penchant for clean sheets away from home. They’ve amassed seven since returning to the top flight, which is a tribute to the sort of defensive organisation that many of his detractors said Silva simply couldn’t manage as well as super Bernd Leno in goal.
MY FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Diop, Ream; Palhinha, Reed; Wilson, Willian, Pereira, Jiménez. Subs: Rodak, Castagne, Bassey, Cairney, Iwobi, Decordova-Reid, Harris, Vinicius, Muniz.
