Match Preview: Peterborough United

916CF07F-15F0-4349-BE0B-7E5108EC4065 — Image: Tothe92.Co.Uk

Three days on from the Whites’ biggest away victory since 1969, Marco Silva’s men head up to Peterborough to take on another of the promoted sides, looking to avoid a 3rd defeat against those venturing up from League 1. I think it’s fair to say it’ll be hard to improve on Wednesday night’s score line but a repeat of the performances from the last few games would be the ideal way to head into the international break (again!!).

Fulham matches against The Posh in the league are a rare beast – in fact we’ve only been in the same tier on one occasion back in 1991/92 in the old (old) Third Division. In fact, the most recent encounter between the two sides was when Peterborough’s ‘fiery’ owner, Darragh MacAnthony, suggested on Twitter that it had been the Fulham manager who wanted to sign Ivan Toney, before Tony Khan stepped in to correct him on who had actually been the clever clogs who saw his potential…

As a result, this match at London Road (or whatever sponsored name it’s known by nowadays) will offer something a bit extra for the travelling away support…although we did say that about our first trip to Coventry in over half a century. At least we won’t need to leave the house before the sun comes up this time around.

Given the nature of the win in the North West, it’s hard to envisage too many changes to the starting lineup, unless injuries dictate otherwise. Michael Hector stepped in admirably (a few stray passes aside) in place of the suspended Tosin and I can’t see Mawson displacing him over the next 2 games, and if he keeps up his level of performance then Tosin himself may even find himself struggling to get back into the XI.

Of course, one of the highlights of Wednesday night was Rodrigo Muniz bagging himself 2 goals after coming on for Mitro. Now there’s no way that the Serbian fireball is going anywhere, but it’s great to see not only the young Brazilian getting on the scoresheet again, but also the camaraderie within the team as they celebrated with him…as Tim Ream said on his favourite social media platform: “We’ve all taken him under our wings to help him settle. The kid is endearing. Knows very little English but is trying so hard. An absolute joy to have around. But then I could say that about every single guy on this squad.” It was always going to be a gentle blooding in process for Muniz, but let’s hope this is the start of him making a real contribution to the promotion push (and beyond).

One change that I could potentially see is Kenny Tete coming back in at right back. Denis has done very well deputising, but this could be the time to give him a run out, even if it’s only for an hour. We’ll likely see Cairney get a few more minutes, but I think Seri and Reed need to be that starting partnership when available given how solid they are, allowing the front 4 to do their thing.

We may even see a few more minutes for supposed contract rebel, Fabio Carvalho, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. Of course there are going to be varying opinions on the situation but we all know how much he can offer to the team, and realistically we all know sweet FA about what’s going on behind the scenes. So, until he comes out and categorically states that playing for Fulham is a fate worse than death, I would continue to include him – even off the bench for the time being until such time that his performances warrant a starting berth.

SCORE PREDICTION: Peterborough Utd 1-3 Fulham

PREDICTED LINE-UP: 4-2-3-1

H2H RECORD – ALL COMPETITIONS (OVERALL)

PLAYED – 13
FULHAM WINS – 3
DRAWS – 3
PETERBOROUGH UTD WINS – 7
GOALS SCORED – 15
GOALS CONCEDED – 19

H2H RECORD – ALL COMPETITIONS (HOME)

PLAYED – 6
FULHAM WINS – 2
DRAWS – 0
PETERBOROUGH UTD WINS – 4
GOALS SCORED – 6
GOALS CONCEDED – 11

LAST 5 GAMES

FULHAM 6-2 PETERBOROUGH UTD (FA CUP)
FULHAM 0-1 PETERBOROUGH UTD
PETERBOROUGH UTD 4-1 FULHAM
PETERBOROUGH UTD 2-0 FULHAM (LEAGUE CUP)
FULHAM 1-2 PETERBOROUGH UTD (LEAGUE CUP)

BIGGEST WIN AT LONDON ROAD

PETERBOROUGH UTD 4-1 FULHAM (1991/92)

PLAYERS IN COMMON

Matthew Briggs, Jimmy Bullard, Simon Davies, Sean Farrell, Zat Knight, Joe Lewis, Leon McKenzie, Martin Pike, Alan Slough, Glen Thomas, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Callum Willock, Gabriel Zakuani.

DID YOU KNOW?

This is just the second season where Fulham and Peterborough have been in the same division.

The first was in 1991/92 in the third tier. Peterborough won both matches.