If Marco Silva wanted a game to demonstrate that Fulham were capable of winning games away from Craven Cottage, then Saturday’s fixture against Sheffield United appears the ideal opportunity. Silva expressed disappointment with his side’s away form during Thursday’s pre-match press conference and revealed that he had spoken to his squad about needing to improve their record on the road. The Cottagers have won just two league matches away from SW6 – a scarcely-deserved victory at Goodison Park on the season’s opening weekend and a stunning success at Old Trafford – but Silva was just as insistent that taking on the bottom of the table Blades will be no cakewalk.

Confidence should be high amongst Silva’s side given the way they stylishly swatted Spurs’ aside before the international break. Rodrigo Muniz added a brace to brilliant form since being reintroduced into the starting line-up at the start of February and the Brazilian striker has shaken off a hamstring problem to be fit and available for selection ahead of the trip to Bramall Lane. Few would have predicted that the 22 year-old would emerge from the shadows to usurp both summer signing Raul Jimenez and deadline day loan arrival Armando Broja, who has barely had a kick since moving from Chelsea in pursuit of more regular first-team football. Silva has backed the striker he signed from Flamengo in the summer of 2021 to live up to the increased expectations after scoring seven goals over the past six weeks – and his sensational scoring form definitely makes Fulham more unpredictable up front.

There is even good news at the other end of the pitch – with Calvin Bassey expected to be available after the injury that saw him return early from international duty with Nigeria appears to not have been as serious as initially feared. Bassey has been brilliant since coming back into Silva’s starting eleven and forging a formidable partnership with Tosin Adarabioyo before Christmas. His physicality and ability on the ball has seen him overtake Tim Ream in the defensive pecking order – although Fulham’s American veteran is expected to be recognised by the Blades after the way he consoled Chris Basham when the Sheffield United stalwart suffered his horrible injury during the reverse fixture between the sides at the Cottage earlier this season.

That might have been one of the lowest moments of a forgettable season for the Blades, with even the reinstalling of Chris Wilder in the dugout failing to arrest an immediate slide back towards the Championship. There have been a few glimmers of hope in an ultimately infuriating campaign, but most have disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived – like the way the 2-0 advantage at Bournemouth fashioned by goals from Gus Hamer and Jack Robinson was cancelled out by a late leveller from Enes Unal. That galling draw leaves Wilder’s men eight points from safety at the foot of the table.

United do at least have a game in hand on relegation rivals Luton but time is fast running out for the Blades to stage one of the top flight’s most extraordinary acts of escapology. They have won just one of their last twelve league encounters and will need to draw inspiration from a relatively encouraging recent record against the Cottagers. Wilder is hoping that his attacking resources will be boosted by the return of Cameron Archer and Anis Ben Slimane, who didn’t travel for Tunisia’s international commitments over the past week or so, from injury – and the manager will also have to mull over whether to pick Vinicius Souza in midfield ahead of Tom Davies.

Fulham are likely to be unchanged but the Londoners will need to match the intensity of the home side, who will be desperate to prove a point in front of home fans, who would be forgiven for feeling underwhelmed by much of the fare they’ve watched so far this season.

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