Fulham will head into a busy festive fixture schedule in fine spirits following their progression to the League Cup semi-finals in midweek. The Whites had to graft for their spot in the last four at Everton, showing a more tenacious side to their game to win on penalties at Goodison Park, and will be targeting a third consecutive home win against the side are currently bottom of the division after Sheffield United’s point at Aston Villa last night. But Marco Silva, who heaped praise on Vincent Kompany and the Clarets during his pre-match press conference yesterday, has warned his side that they can’t afford to underestimate Burnley despite their lowly league standing.

Kompany won plaudits for way he swiftly switched Burnley’s style having been appointed last June. The former Manchester City defender, who had won the Belgian Cup with his boyhood club Anderlecht in his first managerial role, led the Clarets to an immediate return to the top flight as his side romped to the Championship title, losing just three league games, as they became the first side to break the 100-point barrier since Leicester City in 2014. Kompany has remained true to his philosophy despite a difficult testing campaign that seen Burnley concede 36 goals – second only to Sheffield United – but signs of hope have appeared early this month with a 5-0 hammering of Sheffield United and an impressive point at high-flying Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Clarets do have history of recovering from seemingly doomed positions, including in 2018/19 when Sean Dyche’s side recovered from having collected only twelve points at this stage of the season to finish fifteenth after a remarkable second half of the season. Kompany’s side were well beaten by Everton last weekend but should be able to welcome back key defender Charlie Taylor, holding midfielder Jack Cork, England youth international Aaron Ramsey and Icelandic international Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who spent two years in the Fulham academy, from injury. Kompany has urged caution regarding the participation of striker Lyle Foster, who returned as a substitute last week, having taken a break due to mental health issues. Current captain Josh Brownhill has spoken of his ‘excitement’ at making the trip to Craven Cottage, with the Clarets having good memories of their last two visits to Fulham – having relegated Scott Parker’s side in 2020 as well as knocking the Whites out of the FA Cup at the third round stage.

Silva, who feels that Burnley are well organised and will be tough to break down as well as posing a threat on the counter attack, has urged his side to make the most of their home fixtures and turn Craven Cottage into a fortress. The duel 5-0 thrashings of Nottingham Forest and West Ham United in the space of four days earlier in December showed that the Portuguese head coach’s plans in the final third are beginning to come together, but the challenge will be for Fulham, who will again be without the suspended Raul Jimenez, to reprise that form and finesse once again. Silva’s side could record a fourth successive top flight win at Craven Cottage for the first time in seventeen years. Whether the Fulham boss will look to shake up the side that has delivered a pair of peerless performances in the league by the banks of the Thames remains to be seen, especially as he did employ a degree of rotation on Merseyside in midweek.

The key decision will be who will lead the line after Jimenez’s moment of madness at St. James’ Park. Rodrigo Muniz got the nod against Everton and made Fulham’s goal with a fantastic piece of hold-up play and vision under pressure from James Tarkowski, but his compatriot Carlos Vinicius saw out the contest – and converted an ice-cool penalty in front of the Gwladys Street End – after Muniz was immediately substituted following an off-the-ball incident with Tarkowski. Vinicius probably has the edge in terms of penalty box potency this season and experience at Premier League level – although rumours persist to link the pair with returns to Brazil during the January transfer window.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Diop, Bassey; Palhinha, Cairney; Iwobi, Willian, Pereira; Vinicius. Subs: Rodak, Castagne, Ballo-Toure, Adarabioyo, Reed, Lukic, De Cordova-Reid, Wilson, Muniz.