Our Focus turns to Saturday’s visit of Birmingham City. After putting our first points on the board since the restart on Tuesday night, Parker’s side will be looking to build some momentum at the Cottage this weekend…
Head to Head
- Fulham Wins: 29
- Draws: 28
- Birmingham Wins: 34
- Goals Scored: 127
- Goals Against: 124
- Biggest Wins: Fulham 5-0 Birmingham City (1920/21)
Last 5 Games
- Birmingham City 0-1 Fulham
- Birmingham City 1-3 Fulham
- Fulham 1-0 Birmingham City
- Birmingham City 1-0 Fulham
- Fulham 0-1 Birmingham City
Last Time Out
Birmingham City 0-1 Fulham
Birmingham away was the fixture that ended our 23-game unbeaten run under Slav in 2018, but it was to be a much happier return to St Andrew’s this time around with Scott Parker at the helm. The game was a scrappy affair with few chances for either side. Aleksander Mitrović was once again the focus of the headlines. The Serb scored the only goal of the game, tapping home after a mistake from Blues’ goalkeeper Lee Camp. The only dampener on the victory was a needless yellow card for our talisman after arguing with 16-year-old wonderkid, Jude Bellingham. The booking meant that he was suspended for the home derby with QPR the following Friday, a game Fulham won 2-0 anyway.
Players in Common
Jimmy Allen, Sone Aluko, Hameur Bouazza, Bobby Brennan, Dan Burn, Andy Cole, Mark Cooper, Papa Bouba Diop, Steve Finnan, Kerim Frei, Howard Gayle, Colin Gordon, Julian Gray, Geoff Horsfield, Andy Johnson, Stephen Kelly, Graham Leggat, Paul Peschisolido, Frank Queudrue & David Stockdale.
Team News
Fulham: Aleksandar Mitrovic (suspended), Terence Kongolo (foot), Alfie Mawson (knee), Aboubakar Kamara (no idea)
Birmingham: Josh McEachran (ACL)
Score Predictions
Fulham View: Jackandloz (Fulham blog)
Fulham 2-1 Birmingham City
Birmingham View: Birmingham Fan TV
Fulham 1-0 Birmingham City
Former Player: John Mitchell
Fulham 1-0 Birmingham City
Battle to Watch
Michael Hector vs Lukas Jutkiewicz
Lukas Jutkiewicz was a bit of an EFL journeyman before joining Birmingham in 2016, initially on loan. Since then he has joined permanently and played 167 times for the club, scoring 44 goals, and getting 20 assists. Jutkiewicz has played a big part in keeping Birmingham in the division, scoring a lot of important goals for the club. His hold up play and aerial threat has made him one of the league’s most dangerous strikers. His battle with Michael Hector will help decide the game with both players being excellent in the air and being big physical presences. Hopefully, Michael will be able to keep Lukas quiet and help us to another win on Saturday.
Sam’s View (@SamCole2468)
With a win finally under our belt after the break, we should go into the next fixture against Birmingham with some confidence. Having lost once and drawn twice in their last three games, the Blues could find themselves being drawn into a relegation battle if they do not pick up points soon. With Pep Clotet announcing his intention to leave at the end of the season and a few players being released when their contracts expired, it seems like the squad has become slightly unsettled. Fulham need to capitalise on any weakness in order to secure a playoff place.
I would make two changes from the team that beat QPR on Tuesday. The first change would be at centre back with Maxime Le Marchand replacing Tim Ream. Ream looks off the ball this season and was far too weak when Jordan Hugill beat him in the air to open the scoring on Tuesday night. In my opinion, Le Marchand is definitely a better player than people give him credit for and got way too much stick when he played in the Premier League.
The second change would be bringing Stefan Johansen in for Harry Arter. I know he scored this week, but Johansen is getting slept on by Parker despite being one of the best central midfielders in the Championship. I don’t understand why he hasn’t started regularly, and I will keep putting him in my team until he starts…
I would keep the 4-2-3-1 formation from the match against QPR with Cairney behind Decordova-Reid, Cavaleiro on the left and Knockaert on the right.
I fancy a 3-1 win to Fulham with goals from Decordova-Reid, Cairney and Cavaleiro. COYW!
