Fulham will look to return to winning ways after the disappointing of being beaten at Wolverhampton Wanderers last week – with both Marco Silva and Harry Wilson in confident mood as Champions’ League chasing Tottenham Hotspur come to Craven Cottage for the Saturday Night Football. Silva and Wilson have spoken of their belief that the Whites can match anybody on their day, especially on home turf, and Fulham can draw upon the experience of being the first English outfit to inflict a defeat on Ange Postecoglou in English football.
Spurs should travel to SW6 in good heart after a comprehensive dismantling of European contenders Aston Villa at Villa Park that puts their hopes of qualifying for European’s elite competition back in their own hands – and they will also be buoyed by an home win in the reverse league fixture that felt far too easy. Silva outlined the scary composition of the attacking options at Postecoglou’s disposal, with the influential James Maddison back amongst the goals in the Midlands and looking as if he is coming into form at just the right time to make a late run in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for this summer’s European Championships in Germany.
Tottenham were similarly clinical after suffering the shock of going behind to Crystal Palace in their last home outing – and have plenty of quality with which to trouble a Fulham defence that appeared fairly frail in the Black Country with Calvin Bassey and Tosin Adarabioyo, who had previously forged an excellent and miserly understanding after the Nigerian international’s return from the African Cup of Nations, both suffering off days. Postecoglou will have to do without Micky van de Veen, who limped off against Villa, but can call upon Richarlison, a scorer at the Cottage in the League Cup tie back in August, who has recovered from a knee problem. There will be no emotional return for either Ryan Sessegnon or Manor Solomon, who are both sidelined with long-term injuries.
Spurs’ resurgence will have boosted belief in the white half of north London that they can reel in Villa, whom they are now only two points behind with a game in hand, despite Postecoglou memorably insisting that qualification for the Champions’ League was ‘not a golden Willy Wonka ticket’. The Australian’s commitment to front foot football and his easy-going manner have been a refreshing reset to the overhyped and winner-takes-all hysteria of Premier League football, but even a relaxed Postecoglou will be fully aware of the ramifications of failing to deliver success under an unforgiving Daniel Levy. The no-holds barred approach does fit more comfortably with Tottenham’s traditions than Antonio Conte’s more pragmatic style and should make for a very watchable London derby in tomorrow’s late kick off.
It may also stand to give Fulham a chance of breaking one of their longest top flight hoodoos. The Cottagers haven’t won a league encounter against Tottenham since former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov scored the only goal at White Hart in 2013 – and tomorrow’s visitors have won on their last seven straight league visits to Craven Cottage. Silva certainly won’t be resting on his laurels, or putting men behind the ball, but may have to rethink his starting line-up after a miserable afternoon at Molineux – where Fulham were dominant only to pay the penalty for failing to take a number of presentable first-half opportunities.
The Fulham head coach also had reason to regret not putting Joao Palhinha straight back into the starting line-up on his return from suspension, with the Whites all too easily outgunned in the engine room once Wolves stepped up the intensity at the start of the second half. Palhinha’s peerless tackling will be required to quell several Tottenham threats tomorrow and there is probably a strong case for restoring Willian to the starting line-up and offering a first Premier League start in a Fulham shirt to Adama Traore, who looked sharp on his old stomping ground – despite being introduced when the game looked beyond his new employers. The exact composition of the Fulham line-up will be intriguing, especially as Silva’s bench looked as strong as it had all season last weekend and could be strengthened by the return from a hamstring injury of Raul Jimenez.
The Mexican striker, left out of his country’s Nations’ League squad today as a consequence of his recent injuries, is unlikely to be able to force his way past Rodrigo Muniz to make an immediate return to the starting line-up. The former Flamengo forward was quieter than he has been in recent weeks at Wolves, but still had a header scrambled off the line and posed problems for the home defence, with one brilliant turn in the first half, almost leading to another goalscoring opportunity. There’s been much conjecture about how Muniz’s rich vein of goalscoring form has both catapulted his value upwards and diminished Armando Broja’s chances of playing time, although the pair struck up a promising partnership that almost dragged Fulham back from the dead in the closing stages. The Albanian international certainly won’t be starting the remainder of Fulham’s matches – and, therefore, incurring the Cottagers a cost of around £4m under the terms of his loan from Chelsea, but he looks a useful option off the bench when goals are required.
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, Broja, Jimenez.
