Before The Whistle: Fulham v Brighton and Hove Albion

Written by Drew Heatley on 5th December 2024

This’ll be an interesting game.

On one hand, we’re Brighton’s top flight bogey team. They’ve not beaten us in eight outings in the Premier League – and what’s more, we’ve won four of those.

But on the other hand, the Seagulls are flying (as they often are) and come to the Cottage fifth in the table. And, well, it’s Fulham, isn’t it?

Marco has a selection headache in the middle of the park. Andreas Pereira is shrouded in controversy after his recent comments and subsequent dropping against Spurs, and though Marco hints he’ll be back, he doesn’t commit to that being on Thursday night.

Then Sasa Lukic is suspended, alongside TC after his red card on the weekend. So, how will this be made up? You can read more from Cameron Donaldson about that, but you can rest assured that Silva will shuffle the deck – and he even hinted at a cameo from 17-year-old Josh King.

Issa Diop will continue at the back alongside Calvin Bassey. The centre-back is enjoying rising stock as he continues to fill in for Joachim Andersen. Silva was full of praise for him in his press conference, and we’ll all be hoping for a similarly confident performance on Thursday night.

A good record means nothing when it comes to what happens on the pitch. Three points would see us return to the top half ahead of a dreadful double-header against Arsenal and Liverpool. COYW.