Fulham will host West Ham on Wednesday with kickoff at 2:30pm EST on Peacock.
For the second match in a row Fulham faces another London club that is unexpectedly fighting off relegation. When West Ham and Fulham faced off in December, Fulham was figuring out how to win during AFCON and a late Raul header got three points for Fulham at the London Stadium. After that West Ham went through their worst period with a 3-0 loss to Wolverhampton and a 2-1 loss to Forest. Since then however, West Ham has turned it around with three wins, two draws, and two loses (to Liverpool and Chelsea). West Ham haven't won in the league in almost a month, so they are looking at this match as a chance to start picking up the necessary wins again to get out of relegation.
Fulham has struggled to show consistency this season, but they looked pretty good against Sunderland and Tottenham so I'm hoping for another strong performance on Wednesday. Diop was awarded MotM by the fans for his performance on Sunday, so even if Andersen is well I'd be surprised if Diop doesn't start. Bobb also made a good case for another start, but with just a few days rest Chukwueze could switch out with Bobb and let him come on in the second half. Iwobi was the one forward player who didn't get subbed out until injury time, but I can't imagine him not starting since he's been key in Fulham's performances against Sunderland and Tottenham.
This should be another good match that stays close, but I think Fulham should be able to get another win.
I didn't realize Wilson had an ankle issue in the Tottenham game. Silva says he's still being assessed. I imagine if he can't start then we'd see both Bobb and Chukwueze at kickoff. Silva also says Andersen will be available.
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Robinson, King, Chuk, and Cairney start while ESR, Bobb and Sessegnon drop to the bench. Wilson is not on the team sheet and FotMob lists him as doubtful. More interesting is that FotMob lists Kevin’s estimated return to be June(!). It seems he may be done for the season.
I should be able to watch this one later tonight, but expect a close match (shocker, I know). I really hope though that Fulham’s positive home form continues and the team snags their third straight win.
What a frustrating watch. I almost hope @astroevan that something came up and you didn't sit through all of that.
Wilson's absence led to a cascade of changes that flopped. Iwobi didn't work out on the wing, Cairney was no Iwobi, Robinson still isn't himself, Chukwueze could do much other than shake his ankle around the ball, and Leno just briefly didn't think straight. I understood why Silva made the changes he did, but I would have preferred changing as little as possible - which would have been putting Bobb in as a winger but letting the other ten get a start again.
Despite poor performances from all around, Fulham still should have gotten something from this match. They made chances and the West Ham only scored from a stupid error (I put most the blame on Leno for not following the ball and just booting it into the Thames).
The officiating was weird. Iwobi was really lucky he didn't give up a PK early in the match with the nearly hand-ball. I have no idea how Robinson wasn't called for a foul and given a yellow when he clearly obstructed West Ham on a counter attack. Then there was the penalty we thought Cairney earned. I'm totally flummoxed by that one. Cairney couldn't complete his kicking motion because Tatty put his leg in the way. If he had blocked Cairney's shooting leg in front of his standing foot it would have been an easy call, but when it happens behind his standing leg it is somehow different? I also remember sometime last season, or maybe the season before, when a Fulham defender went to clear the ball from the Fulham box, but an opposing player came from behind and put his leg in front of the ball so that the Fulham player kicked his leg despite having no idea a leg would be there. That was a PK, how was this not?
The only good part about this is that it puts Tottenham under even more pressure which is kind of fun to watch.
I’m glad I forgot we were playing today and didn’t watcg. Probably won’t watch the lowlights unti, maybe, tomorrow, I don’t know. Very discouraging, obviously.
I've seen this same story for more than two decades now...and written thousands of words regarding similar matches...Fulham in good form, some wins on the trot, bad team opponent, shit performance, loss. [shrug shoulders]
I'm going to have AI make me a badge/sticker with the Fulham motto, "play to the level of your opponent".
What a boring and miserable match. Fulham managed to get an xG of 0.89 but, honestly, I'm surprised that it was that high. The only notable shot that I recall was Castagne's volley that somehow crept through a crowd but ultimately tipped aside by the West Ham keeper.
Was there too much squad rotation? There was an obvious lack of cohesion between the players on the pitch. Lots of passes that were just a bit off. I would have liked to see King get more involved - he only had 22 touches in 61 minutes (both ESR [27] and Bobb [23] had more touches in half the amount of game time [29 minutes]).
I suppose the good news is that Fulham should have a fairly rested (Iwobi aside) and strong team ready for Southampton this weekend.
