Date: 02/02/2019
K/O: 15:00
Venue: Selhurst Park
Referee: Michael Oliver
Fresh from that extraordinary comeback against Brighton, Fulham travel to Selhurst Park knowing that, despite that amazing win, they need to follow it up with repeat results in the coming weeks if they are to have any chance of staying up.
A win here would take them within three points of their hosts Crystal Palace, a worrying sign for Roy Hodgson’s team that they may not be as safe from the threat of relegation as the casual fan would assume.
This may feel like one of the high’s of Fulham’s season so far; coming from 2-0 down to seal an unlikely 4-2 victory over Brighton is the sign of character, guts and most importantly, goals, that the fans have been praying to see for months. Optimism cannot get too high yet however – the club are still six points behind Southampton in 17th, and the win against Brighton has to be anything but a blip, it needs to be a sign of things to come in the way of wins; wins that need to come thick and fast.
There was supposed to be an armada of recruits coming in to help Fulham stay up as well, defensive improvements and new attacking options so needed as they have been. Before deadline day, things appeared bleak in that department: only Ryan Babel, the surprisingly successful loan move, was the only arrival so far when many more were expected, such was Fulham’s capacity to splash the cash in the summer transfer window.
However, two signings were made on transfer deadline day for Fulham, both loan deals but both welcome additions. The first signing, Norwegian defender Havard Nordtveit from Hoffenheim, may seem underwhelming, and in some ways it is – the player already has Premier League experience aftere a pretty lifeless spell at West Ham.
However, Ranieri will be happy that they have managed to sign somebody to play in a central defensive position, with Nordveit possibly replacing Tim Ream in that back-three. The other signing is an extremely surprising one – Lazar Markovic, on loan from Liverpool.
The speedy winger became a bit of a disaster story at Liverpool, signed by Brendan Rodgers and swiftly forgotten about at Anfield. His extremely positive loan-spell at Hull a few seasons back however suggests that he could add an interesting dimension to Ranieri’s side, both in front of a defence and on the counter-attack.
For Crystal Palace, their outlook should still be positive, if slightly weary of any late surges from Cardiff and Fulham, who can realistically still catch up to them. If their heroic 4-3 loss to Liverpool at Anfield two weeks ago was anything to go by, Palace are too good to go down; but, as already noted, losing this game would shorten the gap between them and their opponents to only three points, a signal that perhaps they are under-performing as a unit this season.
Deadline day bought its own big surprise for Crystal Palace fans as well – an extremely late move for Michy Batshuayi, the young Chelsea striker, was successful, plugging a gap in the team that has been obvious to see all season. Palace’s previous striking options were Jordan Ayew, on loan from Swansea in a move that hasn’t worked out for player or either club, Christian Benteke who has been out of luck and out of confidence for years now, and Connor Wickham, the forgotten man recently back from injury.
Batshuayi was on loan at Borussia Dortmund last season and was given huge attention for his scoring success, scoring nine goals and assisting one in fourteen appearances for the German side. If he is to replicate that kind of form, with the wide-men of Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend to assist him, both of whom are having good seasons, Ranieri should be immediately concerned.
Or he would be anyway, if Wilfried Zaha hadn’t laboured to get himself foolishly and unnecessarily sent-off in their Wednesday game against Southampton. His mild tussle with James Ward-Prowse was met with a yellow card, before an immediate second yellow for Zaha’s sarcastic applause of the referee, applause which he kept going after the red card had been brandished.
Zaha has been outspoken in his insistence that he is tackled too hard repeatedly in games and not given protection by the referees, and he may have been fouled by James Ward-Prowse before the mild melee ensued: however, his reaction was silly and misjudged, with him and his manager having little complaints after the game.
What a miss he could prove to be against Fulham – it was only recently that Palace actually managed to win a game without him, at about the 14th attempt: he has the fear-factor and directness that is so crucial to the way the team attack. Whether his absence will be the catalyst for another shock Fulham win however, remains to be seen.
Team News
There are no new major injury concerns to worry about for Fulham, and signs are showing that Ranieri is getting comfortable with who he prefers in his starting eleven. Joe Bryan and Cyrus Christie are both (finally) having an impact as wing-backs, while Ryan Babel on the right with André Schürrle on the left seems to have good potential.
The main concern is still in that back-three, where they were bailed out repeatedly against Brighton by goalkeeper Sergio Rico (and they still managed to concede two goals in seventeen minutes anyway). Will Havard Nordtveit prove an inspired signing to immediately sure up that defence?
Crystal Palace have only one selection concern, and as already discussed, it is the most crippling one they could have imagined: it is only for one game, but the absence of Wilfried Zaha will hit them hard. Jordan Ayew can play in his position on the left, and perhaps Batshuayi will be fit enough to immediately come in as the striker in a 4-3-3, but it will be hard to replicate the impact that the Ivorian has.
Palace also recently confirmed the re-signing, the very surprising re-signing of Bakary Sako from West Bromwich Albion, who has spent a middling time at the Hawthorns after a similarly middling time at Palace to begin with. It is a move to provide some much-needed depth for the final few months of the season, but perhaps betrays that Palace, although ambitious in their loan signings (as seen with Batshuayi) aren’t currently in the market for long-term, permanent transfers.
Predicted Starting XIs
Crystal Palace (4-3-3): Guaita; Van Aanholt, Sakho, Tomkins, Wan Bissaka; McArthur, Milivojevic, Kouyate; Ayew, Batshuayi, Townsend.
Fulham (5-2-3): Rico; Christie, Le Marchand, Odoi, Nordtveit, Bryan; Chambers, Seri; Schürrle, Mitrovic, Babel.
Score Prediction: Crystal Palace 1 Fulham 1
This could prove to be a high-stakes game for both Palace and for Fulham, yet it may prove that they cancel each other out here – despite the absence of Zaha and despite the impressive performance of Fulham against Brighton, it is hard to see Claudio Ranieri’s side suddenly being a force to be reckoned with on the road, especially to a side like Crystal Palace who so often stay up through their home performances.
Both teams may have to settle for a point this weekend, and there may be a glaring difference in moods between the two camps if that is to be the case. Needless to say, Fulham have to win games like this to stay up, and one good performance isn’t quite enough to convince anybody yet that survival is a likely outcome.
