Before The Whistle: Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur

Written by Drew Heatley on 14th March 2025

We talk about the chase for Europe every week at the moment, but this weekend is about making sure we don’t start slipping down the table.

Tottenham are eight points below us in the table, sitting 13th. Giving them a sniff at the Cottage on Sunday would close that gap to just five.

To get a result, we need to shake off the disappointment of our late, late loss at the AmEx last weekend. But with Sasa Lukic still suspended, we’ll need to figure out a way to topple Spurs without him.

Whether that means persisting with five at the back remains to be seen. But that experiment looks increasingly futile; it stifles our attacking creativity, and at home we should be looking to strike first.

A traditional back four would then create a straight shoot-out for the number 10 berth. Emile Smith Rowe has struggled of late, and contrastingly Andreas Pereira has been putting in some stronger shifts. It’ll be interesting to see who gets the nod if that’s the case.

AP in the 10 would create an opportunity to slot Tom Cairney in from the start in the middle of the park. A lot has been said about TC’s future at the club of late, but if you ask me, he’s far from done at this club, and I’d be happy to see him start on Sunday.

And if we’re talking about points to prove, then we could do worse than let Ryan Sessegnon loose on the wing, despite news that Adama is back in the squad. Sess will be champing at the bit to show his former employers they dropped the ball with him. And boy, would we love to be the beneficiaries of that.

Finally, there’s King Kenny. It’s been great to see him back on the grass this week at Motspur, but Silva’s dubbed him “impossible” for this weekend. Still it’s great to see him on his way back.

Our loss to Brighton means there’s a bit of distance now between us and the top six, but it’s just as crucial to preserve a top 10 finish – we’ve only achieved that six times before, of course. You Whites.