Fulham vs Wolves

The league leaders coming to The Cottage for the ESPN3 match at 9:30 pst. Obvousily our hands will be full as Wolves have only lost 4 matches all season, but have drawn their last two matches.

 

Come on you Whites!

From the BBC:
Fulham will assess left-back Matt Targett, who went off injured during Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Bristol City.

Fellow loanee Sheyi Ojo could come back into the squad if Targett is absent, while boss Slavisa Jokanovic has no other injury worries.

Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves starts a two-game ban after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season in the midweek draw against Norwich.

Morocco's Romain Saiss is likely to come in for the Championship leaders.

SAM's prediction
Home win 34%Draw 28%Away win 38%
SAM, the Sports Analytics Machine, is a super-computer built by @ProfIanMcHale of the University of Liverpool.

Match facts

• Fulham are winless in nine matches against Wolves in all competitions (D3 L6) since a 5-0 win in the Premier League in March 2012.
• Since that 5-0 loss, Wolves have only conceded one goal in four visits to Craven Cottage in all competitions (W3 D1).
• Fulham have won seven successive home league games, keeping clean sheets in each of the last three - they last won four consecutive league games without conceding at Craven Cottage in April 1999.
• Wolves have dropped nine points in their last seven league games (W3 D3 L1); more than in their previous 16 (seven points dropped - W13 D2 L1).
• Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon has scored 17 league goals since August 2016; eight more than any other current teenager in the English top four tiers in this period.
• Wolves midfielder Alfred N'Diaye has scored in two of his last three Championship appearances after scoring just once in his first 20 this season.

 

I’m going to buck a trend and say I believe we will pound these guys, just like we owned Huddersfield and Newcastle last season. I know, I know, last season was LAST season. But we haven’t changed that much, and Sess is due for another hat trick. Only this time, he won’t be able to shush 50,000 geordies.

 

Sorry guys, I'm still shell-shocked from watching (in-person!) our beat-down by Wolverhampton at Craven Cottage last year. I'm merely hoping that we don't embarrass ourselves.

 

If any team has our number, it’s Wolves. Fulham are on a great streak in the league, but we haven’t beaten them since 2012.

I’m excited to watch and hope Fulham pull this one out. I’ll be disappointed with a loss but it wouldn’t be too unexpected.

COYW!

 

Hopefully this lineup brings their A game, they'll need it

Bettinelli
Fredericks, Kalas, Ream, Targett
McDonald, Cairney, Johansen
Ayite, Mitrovic, Sessegnon

Subs: Button, Odoi, Christie, Norwood, Ojo, Fonte, Kamara

Scores in other matches were looking very favorable earlier today, less so now - but still some opportunities to pick up points with a win.

Now to figure out how to watch ESPN3 without a cable subscription and a dwindling number of online trial providers...

 

I don’t know if we can play better than that or not, but I’m willing to consider the possibility. Our defending still gives me heartburn, but you can forgive many sins with great goalkeeping. Really, really impressed with Wolves passing. How we held them scoreless is pretty remarkable. And Rota should have scored. But that’s what happens when it’s your time. We’ve had enough bad breaks since relegation...time for some evening out.
Onward!

 

Official highlights via Wolverhampton:


There was a whole lot to like in this one. Ream was at his best shutting down many potential opportunities for the Wolves. Mitrovic was impressive muscling around the Wolverhampton defense and playing good defense of his own when he didn't have the ball. Sessegnon had his typical sense of where to be. Bettinelli made a couple of good saves on tough shots. Fredericks was dangerous coming down the wing. Although we shut-out the top scoring team in the league, I don't even think we were playing at our best. Johansen, while doing a good job of keeping high pressure, didn't make an effort to collect loose balls often enough. Cairney played too timidly and often seemed to consider a pass back to the Fulham defense as his first option. This was a great performance from Fulham, but I think it could have even been better.

This should have been a 2-1 final, but Kalas seemed to do just enough to spook Jota into putting his shot over the (mostly) empty net. I'm also not sure if Wolverhampton was having an off night or if it was Fulham's constant pressure, but their passing was really sloppy. I lost count of how many times they sent a ball over the touchline when trying to pass to a teammate.

It was also a good day with the other results. Preston, a possible competitor for playoff spots, lost to Ipswich. Derby drew with Reading. Middlesbrough, another playoff competitor, drew with Sunderland. But it could have been even better! Derby, Middlesbrough, and Villa were all losing at one point yesterday. Sadly those results couldn't hold up, but most of them still worked in our favor. And also sadly, as I write this Cardiff just went up 1-0 over Bristol in the 82nd minute. Regardless, we carry on to Derby!

 

Watching the replay yet again (and why not? can’t get too much of a good thing), and I just gotta say, the sight of #3 marauding down the left flank with the ball in the opponent’s half makes my heart go pitter patter. Gonna enjoy it while I can.

 

Agree with the comments thus far. I felt that not only was Cairney a bit timid but also a bit off. I can think of at least a handful of passes that he just missed on - either leading the player too much or putting it behind them.

All in all, it was an impressive victory and hopefully continued a streak of confidence for the lads. Half way through the tough stretch, Fulham have gained 7 of 9 possible points and are cementing their standing in the playoff positions.

 

And Ream made the EFL team of the week!

https://www.efl.com/news/2018/february/team-of-the-week-matchday-34/