Fulham at Bristol City

We travel to Ashton Gate Wednesday, and it's another case of we owe these guys. They beat us twice in three days at the Cottage back in September. first in the league cup, then in the league. One of the main culprits of that sweep, however, may be out. Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham will likely be out with a hip problem. He scored in both previous matches.
As for us, it will be interesting to see how we respond to the Spurs drubbing.
I think we'll come back with a vengeance. The variable will be who starts. I have no clue, based on recent results. Anyone else?

 

I agree Don. Martin needs to be up top. Like it or not. And I don't, particularly. His last outing was subpar, and you have to wonder if his heart is truly in it. The supporters have decided, but they don't really know. We'll see, I suppose. He's our best goal scoring threat...when he wants to be.

 

As soon as Spurs sent out a strong side, it was going to be a tough row to hoe. Now, Bristol City on the other hand...Martin benefits when Fulham attack wide which gives him space to move in the middle - but as they say, I've only seen a "small sample size." Back to winning ways tomorrow.

COYW

 

If Joka chooses to start Martin, best to do it away from Craven Cottage, where the home support has turned on him. Need to get a minimum of 4 points this week from these 2 away matches, let's hope the lads can grab all 3 tomorrow.

 

Here's a (really) old doo-wop song that describes what I'd like to see Fulham do today:

 

What a bounce back performance from the lads!! Clean sheet, leapfrog Norwich in the table (still with a game in hand), and lets Leeds & Wednesday know we be coming..COYW!!

 

My brain is still semi-struggling to comprehend a Fulham team that can win on the road on a regular basis.

 

We now have the second longest active win streak in the Championship! Sure it's only three games, but I still like it. Huddersfield has a six game streak. Cardiff also has a three game streak, so at least one team's run will be over this weekend.

Catching a playoff spot is still going to be tough without a drop in form from Leeds and/or Wednesday. Currently they both have a slightly easier schedule than us for the remainder of the season. Despite the challenges, we're close enough for it to be a legitimate possibility.

 

I take heart in the fact that we're beating teams we SHOULD be beating, even on the road. From relegation until Joka got here, that was not the case. We were just as likely to lose or draw against a team one place above the drop zone. I don't know if we can catch Wednesday or Leeds, but we're at least competitive again. And there's a lot of football left. Not to mention a good bounce back performance after a harsh loss. Just gotta stay healthy and keep it going.

 

26 points at home. 26 points away.
7 wins at home. 7 wins away.
5 draws at home. 5 draws...

I think you get the point. Like others have stated, it's great that there's a chance for results in every match.

 

Sorry I read my own spreadsheet wrong. We are the ones with a slightly easier remaining schedule. Average position for our competition is 11.9, 11.1 for Leeds, and 11.2 for Wednesday. I apologize for any bar bets you may have lost based on my faulty information.

 

And...I wish somebody with a spreadsheet or something else would calculate our league record with and without Kalas out of the lineup. Suffice to say, we gotta keep that lad fit. All other things being unequal, he seems to be the key to our success this season.

 

Looking at Championship data only...

Win % all matches: 44% with Kalas: 45% without Kalas: 40%
Draw % all matches: 31% with Kalas: 36% without Kalas: 20%
Loss % all matches: 25% with Kalas: 18% without Kalas: 40%

He's played in 22 and missed 10. Because he makes the biggest difference in if we Draw or Lose, if we had the w/d/l percentage we have with him for all our matches we'd only have picked up two additional draws bringing our point total to 54 rather than 52. If we played the season with the w/d/l percentage we have without him we'd only have 45 points.

The most interesting number is goals against per match. With Kalas we give up 0.8 goals a match, without Kalas we give up 1.8!!! A full extra goal per match.

 

Wow doesn't seem to do justice to these numbers. That last factoid is truly mind boggling. Good defenders are underappreciated, underpaid and largely unloved by many, but this speaks volumes about how important they are. I'm praying for Tomas's health for the rest of the season.
A whole goal difference! You can NOT ignore that.