Fulham vs Leeds United

Just keep everybody healthy, keep Hatter's Cauley shirt warm and I'll keep the dancing banana on speed dial. And although I normally don't do much table watching here, pray Cardiff start losing. Our old friend Andy Lonergan should be on the Leeds bench as the backup keeper to Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

 

Sheffield United kick off against Cardiff City in an hour on ESPN3. The Blades should be motivated since a victory will vault them over 3 teams and into 6th place.

 

Sheffield United on the scoreboard!

 

The pitch looks terrible...

 

ah shiiiiiite...

 

Leeds is one of my least favorite teams to play (yes, we know you are Leeds! You don't have to keep saying "We are Leeds"!) and I lament what could have been if Piazon hadn't broken his leg in the third game of the season when Shaughnessy took him out. Piazon hadn't even played a full league match but was about the only player who looked like he could be a reliable offensive threat. Losing him I'm sure cost us points in the first half of the season. And let's not forget how Piazon was treated by the Leeds fans when he went down - he didn't even go down dramatically to try and get Shaughnessy carded, but they still booed. I'd really like to see him score in this one.

With Cardiff's draw the margin is back to 8 points. In seven matches Fulham needs to get three more wins than Cardiff. That means that Fulham probably needs to win the remaining seven and hope for three Cardiff losses. That's unlikely, but still in the realm of possibility. Cardiff isn't nearly as good on the road (as seen today when Sheffield United controlled most of the match) and they still must travel to Aston Villa and Derby. Plus they host Wolverhampton on Saturday.

While we can hope for second, it is far more likely Fulham will be in the playoffs. For that reason it is important we get through the match with Leeds with no more broken bones.

 

I've been too nervous to do anything a month! Scared to watch. Scared to listen.

 

On paper, this looks like a victory. Overall Fulham haven't beaten Leeds in their last 6 attempts, but haven't lost in their last 11 home league matches and Leeds haven't won in their last 7 away league matches.

Like has been said - no injuries, maintain confidence, and grab 3 points.

 

That makes 18 unbeaten in the league. We haven’t lost since the middle of December. How is it that we aren’t sitting in an automatic promotion position???

 

Too many poor performances and results early in the season. Lots of draws sandwiched between occasional wins and head scratching losses (see our last loss, in fact, to relegation bound Sunderland). They all count.

 

Yeah, just a reminder THIS was the hole that Fulham dug for themselves back in mid-November:


We've been so good for so long now it is easy to forget how mediocre we were at the start of the season. The teams we gained the least ground on were Cardiff and Wolverhampton, but Fulham has still managed to gain 9 and 7 points respectively. That also puts into perspective the scale of the challenge to get automatic promotion at this point. In the next six matches we'd need to gain the same number on points on Cardiff as we did in the previous 23. As long as we keep winning we can keep dreaming.

 

Strongly agree with the Right Honourable Gentleman from the Republic of South Texas. It's been well documented here and elsewhere that our style allows for some decent scoring chances by our opponent. That's the only thing that gives me pause about our playoff chances. Although we've got almost everybody healthy and playing well, and have numerous clean sheets, we rely heavily on Marcus and luck. Leeds really should have scored in the second half. Don't get me wrong, I'll take it any way it comes, but whether it's Kalas or Odoi, we're still a little dodgy in the back. But...everybody else is doing very, very well. Don's correct: Sess is fine, just been a bit unlucky lately, and all the other guys Hatter cited, along with StefJo, Cairney, Fredericks, Ayite, Piazon (when he can get in) and Mitrovic are getting it done, and at a high level. Everything revolves around the big Serb. When he's not scoring he's commanding enough attention and holding the ball up so well that opportunities for others are opening...and they're not missing them. Bullish about the remainder too, even if it's the playoffs. It's FUN again!

 

So I guess Leeds is too embarrassed by being beaten by McDonald's ass that they've decided to not put up match highlights on their YouTube channel! So for the record I'll post these highlights instead (added bonus - it has a soundtrack rather than all the noise, Noise, NOISE of Leeds supporters):


McDonald's bum for MOTM! It's got Sessegnon's sense of where to be on the pitch. Kevin should listen to it more often.