Marco Silva was insistent yesterday that Fulham are far better prepared to face a knockout Cup clash that they were when they pushed Liverpool all the way in the League Cup’s last four last term. But the Portuguese head coach, who has ended the Cottagers’ yo-yoing between English football’s top two tiers since succeeding Scott Parker, both downplayed the importance of his 500th game in management whilst warning his players that will need to far better than when Crystal Palace cruised to victory at Craven Cottage last month.
Fulham have been buoyed by a shoot-out success at Old Trafford to reach the last eight of the FA Cup and keep their dreams of reprising their Wembley visit of fifty years ago as well as a return to winning ways at home to a tottering Tottenham Hotspur. But Oliver Glasner’s Eagles are streetwise and know their system inside out, with an outstanding away record, and a fine recent run at the Cottage, where they are unbeaten in two decades. They can easily follow the template of their Premier League victory, when Will Hughes and Ebere Eze dismantled a meek home side, and are boosted by the return of Jean-Philippe Mateta earlier than expected after his dreadful head injury in the previous round against Millwall.
Palace have weapons all over the pitch that will pose problems for Fulham, but as Silva identified in a midweek interview with Sky Sports, his charges will need to be more assertive and adventurous than they managed in the previous encounter against the Eagles. The way Emile Smith-Rowe dismantled Palace at Selhurst Park is instructive, but the Fulham boss faces a key decision over which of his creative number tens to start, especially after Andreas Pereira’s best performance of the season was the key to piling more pressure on Ange Postecoglou.
The key to victory will undoubtedly be getting more white shirts in the penalty area in support of whichever lone forward Silva selects. It would be harsh on Rodrigo Muniz after the Brazilian turned a tight London derby in Fulham’s favour last time out, but the boss surely can’t bench Raul Jimenez after a pair of peerless performances powered Mexico to CONCACAF Nations League glory over the international break. The balance of the home midfield should be improved by the return of Sasa Lukic from suspension, but it does mean that Silva will have shoehorn several creative talents into his midfield, with Willian and Alex Iwobi also in fine form.
The difference between now and earlier in the season is that Silva will have a bench that can influence proceedings if the game remains in the balance later on. Tom Cairney, Josh King and Ryan Sessegnon have shown how they can alter tight games already this season – and the substitutes may prove pivotal if another crunch Cup clash heads for extra time and even penalties. A sold out Cottage will need to do their bit, especially in the Hammersmith End on a massive afternoon for the Whites.
FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, A. Robinson, Andersen, Bassey; Berge, Lukic; Iwobi, Willian, Pereira; Jimenez. Subs: Benda, Diop, Reed, King, Cairney, Traore, Smith Rowe, Godo, Muniz.
