Fulham vs Leeds United

They won Friday night at St. Andrews, so they'll have extra rest coming into our house. And they're solidly in third, so the playoffs are almost a certainty for them. A six pointer? You hear that phrase a lot, but it may well be. Gotta beat everybody, but especially the teams in front of you. I like the fact that our home form is improving. And the 1-1 draw at Elland Road in August is not even in the rear view mirror any more. To wit, Matt Smith started for us in that one. No Martin, Kebano or Kalas for us, all of whom should play in this one.
A must win? At home, this late, yeah.

 

I caught their first half against Birmingham. They sat back and absorbed pressure, closed shop in the final third, then route 1 long-balled it to Chris Wood who (w/the aid of the CB who whiffed on the ball) dropped it over the goalie f0r the 1 goal lead. Wood leads the league in scoring so we'll need to limit his opportunities. With a trip up to Newcastle looming on Saturday, it's vital to stay in contact. The barcodes can do us a favor as they are playing Reading tomorrow. Sheffield Wednesday has a favorable matchup at home to Burton, so it's possible that Fulham can move closer to 6th even if Wednesday wins (combined with a Reading loss would drop the Royals to 6th).

 

A few thoughts on our current position...

We should have raised a toast after our draw against Cardiff. That point gave us 53 for the season. Why is that significant? Because with 13 matches to go after that match, that one point gave us more points than in either of our first two seasons in the Championship (51 and 52 points). yippee.

The sixth playoff spot almost always goes to a team scoring 70 to 80 points. In the past 10 years the highest point total for the sixth spot was 78 in 2014-15 (Wolverhampton had 78 points, but in a three-way tie finished 7th based on goal differential). The lowest was 68 points in 2012-13. 75 points has been the most common being reached three times by the sixth place team.

The good news is that there is a good chance Fulham will finish with more than 75 points. The bad news is that there is reasonable chance that Fulham will finish with more than 80 points and still miss the playoffs. Based on form over the last 10 matches (and assuming we win our game-in-hand vs Blackburn), we finish with 82 points, but still one point behind both Reading and Wednesday with 83 points.

What does all of that mean? A win against Leeds would be a huge help in a push for the playoffs, but I'll also argue a draw wouldn't be a playoff killing result.

 

Well this certainly will test us. We haven't had a great record this season against the top 6 but we are certainly on form and at home so can we do it? Hell yeah we can.

With that, a win will certainly give us fans a wave of confidence that we can get in the playoffs. And let's not forget we are still to play Sheffield Wednesday.

 

Top-half table today, pre match:
1 Newcastle35244769294076
Drew with Norwich Won against Aston Villa Drew with Bristol City Won against Brighton Won against Huddersfield
2 Brighton35218658312771
Drew with Ipswich Won against Barnsley Won against Reading Lost to Newcastle Lost to Nottm Forest
3 Huddersfield3420594539665
Won against QPR Won against Rotherham Won against Reading Drew with Barnsley Lost to Newcastle
4 Leeds352041149351464
Lost to Cardiff Won against Bristol City Drew with Ipswich Won against Sheff Wed Won against Birmingham
5 Reading35196104946363
Drew with Barnsley Won against Brentford Lost to Huddersfield Lost to Brighton Won against Wolves
6 Sheff Wed351871047341361
Won against Blackburn Won against Nottm Forest Lost to Brentford Lost to Leeds Won against Norwich
7 Fulham341511859401956
Won against Wigan Won against Nottm Forest Won against Bristol City Drew with Cardiff Won against Preston North End
8 Norwich35157136053752
Won against Nottm Forest Drew with Newcastle Lost to Burton A Drew with Ipswich Lost to Sheff Wed
9 Preston North End351410114744352
Won against Brentford Won against Birmingham Drew with Wigan Won against QPR Lost to Fulham
10 Derby35149123832651
Lost to Cardiff Drew with Burton A Lost to Aston Villa Lost to Blackburn Won against Barnsley

 

I'm gonna be sick if we lose or draw this.

 

Well, CCAAAIIIRRRRNNNNEERYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!! ⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽

 

OK but WTF is going on this year. At one point we had 74℅ possession, 16 shots and we're losing 1-0.

Still an important point at the death.

 

Thats a goal that we will look back on in May as one of the most important goals of the season. What a strike!

 

Leeds, Reading, Wednesday, Fulham, Norwich, Preston, Derby all draw. Nothing much changes in the race, but overall a net positive day for us despite a frustrating draw.

I am however reconsidering wearing my Ream jersey to Craven Cottage. I don't want to be pelted with trash. That OG was stomach churning.

 

Screw 'em. I'd wear mine, and a big American flag around my shoulders. Fulham wouldn't be squat without Yanks, nor would they be where they're at right now without Ream, and they know it. Besides that, what the hell was Button doing out there? He should have been back standing on top of his line, not out there shaking hands with Tim. As slow as that thing was, he saves it easily. No matter. Given the circumstances, I'll take a point instead of none. But we should have had 3. We've already left too many points on the pitch this season. Can't afford to drop any more. If we finish 6th by a point, I'll be ecstatic.

 

That stats read like Fulham utterly dominated the match but without the last gasp heroics would have gone home a bit hard done by.

 

This video of a fan's perspective of the match shows very clearly that Fulham was robbed of a goal. He was even with the goal line and there is no doubt the ball was over. Kebano's shot is shown at real speed and then slowed down at 2 minutes in

 

WTF? That reply shows it wasn't even an "iffy" goal - that ball is 15" over the line. Arrrggghhh.

COYW

 

I know it happened quickly but like you say, wasn't even close and that linesman should've been in a great spot to see it go over.

 

Hey, Texan Spock. Stop being calm and logical; instead, please consider the opportunity to break things, light fires and flip over cars in protest!!!!!

COYW