I quite like Fulham as a club.
When you consider their resources and the fact that they’re not very fashionable, you have to admire how they keep ticking over in the big boys league and aren’t the perennial strugglers you’d expect them to be.
I think they manage to achieve it by playing very pragmatic football and we all know what they’re about in being physical and extremely well organised.
After thursday’s game, I suspect that many teams might feel they’ve worked us out and realise that we struggle more to play against a deep defensive line (or to use the modern term ” a low block”). And it’s a tactic I expect Fulham to employ as they seem particularly suited to it, in my opinion.
I watched the Newcastle game yesterday evening and I thought their players looked leggy, which is something I fully to see in our lads. Perhaps there is something in this thursday sunday thing after all, although I still struggle to see why fit young men would struggle with it.
Squad news and little has changed. Ramsey is close and Moreno is on the bench where I’d expect him to get minutes today.
I’ve just looked and here’s the team;
Martínez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, McGinn, Kamara, Luiz, Tielemans, Diaby, Watkins
Perhaps the surprise is Tielemans, but I feel he does add something and he just needs to get back in the groove. He’s obviously training well and my guess is that Emery has a specific task in mind for him.
Duran is also on the bench, so maybe the toe injury was a genuine thing.
As for Fulham, Marco Silva confirmed that striker Rodrigo Muniz and Issa Diop will miss out due to a knee and ankle injury respectively. Adama Traore, Tosin Adarabioyo and Kenny Tete are all doubtful.
So the headline gives my thoughts away.
I’d like to think we can win this 2-1, which would be great as if Liverpool were to lose to Brentford, we’d actually go 4th. How good would that be, with us going into yet another boring international break?
But then, my years of disappointment have left me struggling to think that we will achieve this here.
We just never seem to get that luck, so it’s why I’m going for a draw.
I don’t think I see many goals either, because of the way that I see Fulham playing.
And if we play with the lack of pace that we had on thursday, I think they’re well capable of actually beating us.
But then, I can’t face that idea, hence a 1-1 draw it is
UTV!
