Five draws on the bounce, if you exclude the extra time at Loftus Road. We need to build on the recent resilience we have shown and turn these draws into wins somehow. Spurs are quality opposition so it’s going to be difficult to do that tonight but stranger things have happened…
Four draws in a row in the Premier League, anymore drawing and Vincent Van Gogh will be asking for his pencils back! Our game against Spurs was initially postponed due to a Covid outbreak in the Fulham camp and has been rearranged for tonight at very short notice, which isn’t ideal for either manager in their preparation for the game. Spurs are a good side but their counter-attacking play under Mourinho might suit us. The issue I have is whether we will be able to take our chances, but if Mitro plays I think we have a chance to cause them problems.
In terms of our team, I’m not sure who is out with Covid and who’s not so I’m just going to name my preferred team and hope they are available. Areola in goal, a back three of Aina, Andersen and Adarabioyo, Tete coming in at right wing-back with Robinson on the left. Anguissa and Lemina to return in the heart of midfield, allowing Lookman and Reid to play off of Mitro up top.
A few players that haven’t been playing of late had a good run out against QPR at the weekend and Joe Bryan can probably find himself unlucky not to be in the eleven more often than he is. Unfortunately for Joe, Robinson and Lookman down the left-hand side have been very consistent. It was also good to see Josh Onomah and Kenny Tete back in action and I hope the latter has enough in the tank to start again tonight to enable Bobby Reid to be higher up the pitch in support of Mitro. By keeping that back five intact, as well as Robinson’s pace down the left and Tete’s ability to deliver a cross from the right, hopefully we can get Lookman and Reid as close to Mitro as possible to ensure we aren’t camped in our own half for 90mins.
The pressure is on Spurs to take the game to us and win so we need to keep it tight, pick our moments to counter attack and take our chances as there probably won’t be many. Exactly like we did away to Leicester. Ironically, setting up to give Mourinho a taste of his own medicine. How lovely that would be! But let’s face it, we’ve perfected the art of drawing and I’ll take another one before a ball is kicked…
PREDICTION: SPURS 1-1 FULHAM
HEAD TO HEAD
LEAGUE RECORD (OVERALL)
- GAMES PLAYED – 72
- FULHAM WINS – 11
- DRAWS – 24
- SPURS WINS – 37
- GOALS SCORED – 75
- GOALS CONCEDED – 124
LEAGUE RECORD (HOME)
- GAMES PLAYED – 36
- FULHAM WINS – 3
- DRAWS – 12
- SPURS WINS – 21
- GOALS SCORED – 29
- GOALS CONCEDED – 65
BIGGEST WINS AT SPURS
- SPURS 0-5 FULHAM (1904/05)
- SPURS 5-1 FULHAM (1906/07, 1960/61 & 2007/08)
- SPURS 4-0 FULHAM (1919/20 & 2001/02)
- SPURS 3-0 FULHAM (1964/65)
- SPURS 0-3 FULHAM (2003/04)
LAST 5 GAMES
- FULHAM 1-2 SPURS
- SPURS 3-1 FULHAM
- FULHAM 0-3 SPURS (FA CUP)
- SPURS 3-1 FULHAM
- FULHAM 1-2 SPURS
LEAGUE FORM
- SPURS – WDLLD
- FULHAM – DDDDL
COLLINS JOHN’S VIEW
We haven’t lost for a long time now and we need to keep that momentum going against Spurs. It’s going to be a tough game away from home and I can see Mitro being left out so that we can set up to counter attack.
We’ve proven lately that we are hard to beat but in order to turn those performances into wins, we need to take our chances. I’ve been saying it for a few weeks now and I believe it really is that simple. You can’t expect to have loads of chances in the Premier League and we need to learn how to be more clinical.
It’s not ideal playing the game at short notice but I think this match was always going to be difficult regardless of when it was played and I think Spurs will be a bit too strong for us.
PREDICTION: SPURS 2-0 FULHAM
LAST TIME OUT
FULHAM 1-2 SPURS (2018/19)
The last time we played Spurs we lost 2-1 at Craven Cottage a game in which cult hero Ryan Babel made his Fulham debut. At half time we were on for a shock win with a Fernando Llorente own goal giving us the lead unfortunately, this didn’t last. Dele Alli got a goal back just after the break before Joe Bryan lost his man at the back post allowing Harry Winks to nod in an equalizer in the 93rd minute.
PLAYERS IN COMMON
Darren Bent, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Brown, David Button, Simon Davies, Sean Davis, Mousa Dembele, Clint Dempsey, Terry Dyson, Ray Evans, Ryan Fredericks, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Cliff Jones, Kasey Keller, Stephen Kelly, Paul Konchesky, John Lacy, Steed Malbranque, Alan Mullery, Danny Murphy, Jamie O’Hara, Josh Onomah, Frank Osborne, Tony Parks, Scott Parker, Wayne Routledge, Louis Saha, Adel Taarabt, Bobby Zamora.
BATTLE TO WATCH
SON HEUNG-MIN VS OLA AINA
Son Heung-Min is a 28-year-old South Korean winger who joined Spurs from Bayer Leverkusen in August 2015. He is second in the Premier League scoring charts and has formed a deadly partnership with Harry Kane. Son is very direct and known for his pace, dribbling and finishing. What can only be described as a defenders nightmare and the player most likely to break our defensive shape with his movement. It’s likely that the right-hand side of our defence is where Son will look to exploit and despite putting in improved performances recently, Ola Aina will have to have one of his best games in a Fulham shirt so far to keep the Spurs forward quiet, with protection from either Tete or Decordova-Reid at right-wing back.