Premier League 2018-19 Kickoff - Fulham v. Crystal Palace

On Saturday Fulham will finally take the pitch against a Premier League opponent for the first time since 2014. Crystal Palace is an interesting team face as our first EPL competitor. Consider the following:

• Crystal Palace was the last team Fulham faced in the Premier League - a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage in May of 2014
• The highlight of our 2013-14 season was the 4-1 victory Fulham had over Palace in October of 2013. It seemed like that game was a sign that Fulham could stay up while Palace (who only had 3 points then) would go down. It was a turning point for both teams. Palace went up while Fulham went on to lose six in a row
• Crystal Palace is managed by Fulham legend Roy Hodgson

Palace got off to a horrid start last year losing their first seven while being outscored 17-0. Despite that start they got their act together and ended with a respectable finish in 11th place and 11 points above relegation.

It is hard to say what will happen on Saturday since Fulham hasn't preformed particularly well in the pre-season and has brought in six players just since the Celta Vigo match - that's more players than Palace got in the entire transfer window (I think). Fulham will have lots of unknown potential while Palace will have a team very similar to the one that got them a comfortable mid-table finish.

Just for kicks, here's the Fulham starting XI in our last match versus Palace:
Stockdale
Zverotic, Heitinga, Hangeland, Amorebieta
Kacaniklic, Parker, Sidwell, Richardson
Woodrow, Rodallega

 

No idea what the lineup will be tomorrow but I suspect that it will be very similar to the 11 that faced Celta Vigo last week.

I’m just excited that the season is finally here. I ended up getting the nbc gold pass, so I’ll have my tv queued up and ready to go for 10am tomorrow.

Come on Fulham!

 

Not a lot of good news on defense for Fulham. Ream and Mawson are out due to injury. Odoi is out for two matches due to the red card in the playoff final. Bryan and Fosu-Mensah have only been around for a day. That leaves Le Marchand and Chambers as the likely starting central pair without a lot of depth behind them. Which also means that Sessegnon will probably start at left back rather than up front where everyone wants him.

https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/fulham-injury-crisis-ahead-crystal-15015084