Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Premier League clash between Fulham and Crystal Palace, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
A mid-table Premier League contest takes centre stage at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon as 13th-placed Fulham play host to 14th-placed Crystal Palace.
The two London clubs meet for the first time since September last year when they played out a goalless stalemate at Selhurst Park.
Match preview
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Although Fulham have never looked like entering the relegation picture this season, a run of three defeats in their last four Premier League matches leaves little to be desired, and Marco Silva‘s side are now playing catch-up in their quest to secure a second successive top-half finish.
Defeats against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United were followed by a 2-0 victory at West Ham United, but the Cottagers were condemned to their 16th league loss of the campaign at the hands of Liverpool (1-3) last weekend.
Fulham remain in with a shot of matching their 52-point haul from last season, although they require 10 points from their remaining four fixtures to achieve that. The Cottagers sit 13th in the table and only three points behind Bournemouth in 10th, while they are eight points adrift of the top seven, so a late push for Europe will be a tall order.
A return to Craven Cottage on Saturday will be welcomed by Fulham as they have collected 66.7% of their Premier League points on home soil this season, although they have lost their two matches in front of their own fans and will be seeking to avoid three home losses in a row for the first time since a run of six in May 2021.
Fulham will fancy their chances of claiming a positive result against Crystal Palace, whom they have not lost against in any of their previous four league meetings, while Silva’s side have won four of their last five London derbies in the top flight, as many as their previous 44 beforehand.
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In contrast to Fulham, Crystal Palace are in buoyant mood as they have won each of their last three Premier League games by an aggregate score of 8-2, with their latest success over Newcastle United securing their Premier League status for a club-record 12th successive season.
Three days after thumping West Ham United 5-2 at Selhurst Park, the Eagles returned to home soil and claimed a 2-0 victory over the Magpies on Wednesday, with Jean-Philippe Mateta following up his brace against the Hammers with two more goals to increase his tally for the campaign to 11 in the Premier League.
Oliver Glasner has settled in well as Crystal Palace boss since taking the reins in February and has successfully steered the club to safety with four games left to spare; the Eagles sit 14th in the table and 14 points above the drop zone, while victory on Saturday would move them level on points with Fulham in 13th.
Palace ended a 10-game winless away run when they surprisingly beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield in their most recent match on the road, and they can travel to Fulham with optimism of success on Saturday as they are unbeaten in their last four visits to Craven Cottage (W2 D2).
Fulham Premier League form:
Crystal Palace Premier League form:
Team News
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Fulham’s only injury concern is with experienced winger Willian, who missed last weekend’s defeat to Liverpool due to a minor groin problem that will be assessed ahead of kickoff against Palace.
Timothy Castagne scored his first goal for the Cottagers last time out and is expected to continue at right-back ahead of Kenny Tete, joining Tosin Adarabioyo, Calvin Bassey and Antonee Robinson in the back four.
Harrison Reed will be pushing to start in midfield ahead of Sasa Lukic, while Harry Wilson and Adama Traore will battle with Alex Iwobi and Bobby De Cordova-Reid for a place on the flanks as top scorer Rodrigo Muniz leads the line.
As for Crystal Palace, Sam Johnstone (elbow), Cheick Doucoure (Achilles), Marc Guehi (knee), Jefferson Lerma, Rob Holding (both thigh) and Matheus Franca (groin) all remain sidelined with injuries.
Michael Olise, who has been hampered with injuries for large spells of this season, began as a substitute in midweek, but the winger could work his way back into the first XI on Saturday at the expense of Jordan Ayew.
Glasner is unlikely to make too many other changes, if any, to his starting lineup, although Joel Ward could take the place of Nathaniel Clyne at right centre-back having recently recovered from injury.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Castagne, Adarabioyo, Bassey, Robinson; Palhinha, Lukic; Iwobi, Pereira, De Cordova-Reid; Muniz
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Ward, Andersen, Richards; Munoz, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Olise, Eze; Mateta
We say: Fulham 1-2 Crystal Palace
There has been little to separate these two teams in recent years, with three of the last four meetings ending all square, but taking into account the contrasting form of both clubs heading into Saturday’s fixture, we believe Palace have the momentum behind them to collect maximum points against an out-of-sorts Fulham outfit.
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