Before The Whistle: Fulham v Crystal Palace
Written by Drew Heatley on 28th March 2025
The weight of history grows heavier with every day.
We don’t need to be reminded we’ve never won a major trophy. Neither will Crystal Palace.
And now everyone else has cottoned onto the fact that no fewer than four of the eight FA Cup quarter-finalists have never lifted ‘major’ silverware, and of the four who have, only Manchester City have done so in the last 35 years.
History. It’s been 20 years since we saw Palace back off to SE25 with zero points. But it’s a slightly misleading stat; we’ve only played the Eagles at the Cottage six times since then, and we’ve drawn three of those.
So, we shouldn’t let that little historical detail hinder us on Saturday. Crystal Palace are the form side of 2025, winning nine of their 12 games. But we’re witnessing one of our best-assembled and best performing top flight sides we’ve ever had – and we will be out for revenge after our meek performance the last time these two sides met, in February.
History. Saturday marks Marco Silva’s 500th game as a manager. He’s in the middle of his biggest project in that time, at the club he’s stayed at the longest. Reputation restored, is it time for him to etch his name into the history books.
Of course, he will field the strongest possible XI. Apart from Kenny Tete, Reiss Nelson, and Harry Wilson, he has everyone fit and ready. There’ll be more than a few calls for a Ryan Sessegnon start, however, after his Spurs heroics before the international break.
Win, and Wembley awaits. History is indeed a heavy burden – and so is the weight of expectation. But I’ve got a feeling this Fulham side has the strength to carry it – perhaps all the way. You Whites.
ℹ️ MATCH DETAILS
Kick-Off: Saturday, 12:15PM
Stadium: Craven Cottage
Competition: FA Cup
TV Channel (UK): ITV 1
🥊 MOST RECENT MATCHES
Feb 25: Fulham 0-2 Palace
Nov 24: Palace 0-2 Fulham
Apr 24: Fulham 1-1 Palace
Sep 23: Palace 0-0 Fulham
🎙 NEW PODCAST: Toss The Coin
We wrap up the events of the international break and nervously look forward to Fulham’s quarter-final FA Cup fixture against Crystal Palace.
<iframe frameborder=”0″ src=”https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?p=TAMC9557331257″ width=”100%” height=”482″></iframe>
📱 FULHAMISH ON WHATSAPP
Get line-ups, match updates and breaking Fulham news straight to your phone by signing up to the Fulhamish WhatsApp channel.
