Before The Whistle: Fulham v Bournemouth

This one will be a tightly contested affair.

We sit just one place and one point behind Bournemouth going into this game at the Cottage. The Cherries have a game in hand, but a win on Saturday would see us leapfrog them into 12th, hot on the heels of SW6 neighbours Chelsea.

Both sides have drawn their last two games. We’ve had stalemates against Everton and Burnley, while Bournemouth have had two successive 1-1 draws against West Ham and most recently Nottingham Forest. And to add to it all, we’ve drawn three of our last five meetings against Andoni Iraola’s men (we’ll gloss over the fact that we lost the last two games).

Everyone will be looking to Armando Broja. Will Silva start our new number nine, or will he keep faith with Rodrigo Muniz, who bagged his first Premier League goal against Burnley last Saturday. One thing’s for sure, it’s Bournemouth’s number nine – Dominic Solanke – we need to watch out for. He’s scored in each of his last five appearances against us.

Last weekend saw Silva shuffle the pack a bit – and it’ll be interesting to see if he reverts or maintains the change. Ream came in for Diop (forced by injury), Reed for Cairney. And, of course, Muniz for the injured Jimenez. There were concerns about Tosin’s fitness, which would’ve left us super thin at the back, but he’ll be fit for the game.

Harry Wilson and Adama Traore (yes, really) will also be fit, in what is a huge boost for our attacking prospects. The former could slot straight in, but you’d imagine an appearance off the bench is the best that the latter could hope for.

A win on Saturday would go a long way to easing the slowly mounting pressure, given our form since late December. And with some tough fixtures closing out February, the importance of this one can’t be overstated.

ℹ️ MATCH DETAILS

Kick-Off: Saturday, 3.00PM
Stadium: Craven Cottage
Competition: Premier League
TV Channel (UK): None

🚦 LEAGUE FORM

Fulham: ❌ ❌ ✅ ❌ ⬜ ⬜
Bournemouth: ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ⬜ ⬜

⚖️ MATCH PROBABILITY

Fulham: 46%
Draw: 28.1%
Bournemouth: 25.9%

🥊 MOST RECENT MATCHES

Dec 23: Bournemouth 3-0 Fulham
Apr 23: Bournemouth 2-1 Fulham
Oct 22: Fulham 2-2 Bournemouth
Apr 22: Bournemouth 1-1 Fulham

🎙 NEW PODCAST: Cherry Big Game

A look at Saturday’s Bournemouth match, plus a broader look at the FFC transfer window.

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