Form: Well, Sheffield Wednesday have undergone a severe attitude adjustment since the turn of the year, compared to the team that reached the playoffs last year. They’ve hit rock bottom on a few occasions, most notably losing at home to struggling Burton Albion, but have turned things around recently and won three on the bounce. They come into this game off a 3-1 win away to Sunderland, goals from Joao, Lees & Nuhiu earning the Owls the points.
Formation: Sheffield Wednesday have experimented with a few formations in recent weeks, but most seem to revolve around either 3/5 at the back, so it’s hard to pin down exactly how they’ll play on Saturday, but I think they’ll go for a 3-5-2 with Rhodes & Nuhiu leading the line.
Dangerman: No ex-Fulham man to focus on, so we move on to a man who can deliver a real knockout punch, Jordan Rhodes. I’ve always considered Jordan to be the best forward in the division (better than Ross McCormack, and anyone who knows me knows how much I love McCormack). Now whilst he hasn’t quite got the form that made him the ‘kingslayer’ of the division in years past, you can never quite write him off.
Battle to watch: Adam Reach v Kevin McDonald. Similar to how in previous editions, this section has been devoted to players who will try to stop our creative players going forward, I’m pulling a 619 and switching it to how we can stop their most creative player. Most of their attacks go through this guy, so it’ll be up to big Kev to put boots to asses and stop any threat before it even occurs.
Head to Head:
- Fulham have only won 3 of the last 17 meetings with Sheffield Wednesday in all competitions since 1982.
- Fulham did win on their most recent trip to Hillsborough though, on the final day of last season – their only league success at Sheffield Wednesday since 1973.
- The Whites have scored on 9 of their last 10 trips to Hillsborough in all competitions.
- However, Fulham have only kept 1 clean sheet in 17 games against the Owls – with Marcus Bettinelli in goal for the 4-0 victory at Craven Cottage in December 2014.
Prediction: For some reason, in the back of my mind I’m not that confident ahead of this weekend, Hillsborough hasn’t been the best hunting ground for us over the years (last season put aside). I don’t think that this unbeaten run will go on until the end of the season, and we are going to face deletion at some point. It won’t be this weekend, but it certainly won’t be an easy game.
Sheffield Wednesday 1 -1 Fulham
