Fulham’s fine nine-match unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt on a night of self-sabotage at West Ham in midweek, but the Whites pick themselves up again and make the trip to lowly Leicester City this afternoon in search of a return to winning ways.
The Whites were abject in possession at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night, but it is probably to avoid the knee-jerk populism that urges Fulham’s players to pump the ball forward at every opportunity. For one thing, that just isn’t Marco Silva’s style and many of the Whites’ wins have come from their willingness to take risks with the ball at their feet. It is a particularly successful approach away from home and the head coach’s philosophy, as well as the eye-catching high starting positions adopted by the likes of Antonee Robinson, are possible because goalkeepers, centre halves and midfielders who drop deep are all expected to distribute the ball equally.
The solution is in better execution of the game plan as Andreas Pereira and Bernd Leno freely acknowledged in the aftermath of Fulham’s first London derby defeat of the season. Silva admitted that his side will have to ask themselves some searching questions after arguably gifting Graham Potter’s new charges three goals on Tuesday night – and the first objective will be not to play themselves into similar trouble at the King Power Stadium this afternoon. After the initial optimism that accompanied Ruud van Nistelrooy’s appointment following an impressive caretaking cameo at Old Trafford, the Foxes have rather flatlined under the Dutchman.
City have lost their last six league fixtures in succession and sit bottom of the Premier League, which is some achievement with Southampton seemingly unable to pick up points against opposition other than the Whites. Whilst we certainly can’t rule out Silva’s side offering charity to another relegation candidate, the Fulham head coach will be bitterly disappointed if his players don’t strip out the glaring errors that gave West Ham such a helping hand in front of the TNT cameras and come home from the Midlands with three points.
Silva should be able to call upon the fit-again Sander Berge in the engine room, with the Norwegian’s absence being a key reason for the way the Whites have been vulnerable in the middle of the park of late. It might even see Pereira, whose poor pass put Fulham in a whole heap of trouble after they started so brightly against the Hammers, shuffled to the substitutes bench if Emile Smith Rowe is handed the opportunity he should get, which is an opportunity to return to the number ten role where he has proven most effective since his summer move from Arsenal.
Leicester’s fighting spirit and ability to spring a surprise shouldn’t be underestimated. The longevity of Jamie Vardy remains one of the Premier League’s most compelling stories – to sit alongside the Foxes’ remarkable Premier League winning campaign – whilst the Whites could be reunited with Bobby De Cordova-Reid, who has struggled for starting time since the man who lured him away from SW6, Steve Cooper, finally paid for his unpopularity with a selection of the Leicester fanbase. Preston Daka has always struck me as a dangerous operator – but if Fulham are fluent and on form, this should be the ideal opportunity to get a meandering campaign back on track.
MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, A. Robinson, Andersen, Bassey; Berge, Lukic; Wilson, Iwobi, Smith Rowe; Jimenez. Subs: Benda, Cuenca, Diop, R. Sessegnon, King, Reed, Cairney, Traore, Pereira, Muniz.
