Fulham vs Leicester City

Short turnaround for Wednesday night fixture at the Cottage. The Foxes still have enough offensive firepower to concern a defensively challenged squad like ours. Jamie Vardy is still a quality goal scorer, and James Maddison has moved into contention for consideration as well. Kasper Schmeichel can still stand on his head at times, but they can be had defensively. We still need to shore up our own house, so much of this is inconsequential as to the opponent. Top to bottom, we’re pretty equal, except for the three I mentioned. If they have average or below performances, we’ve got a chance. But we just need to get better. Still, this is an opportunity on paper to get a result. Can’t squander those anymore.

 

I still think something's wrong with Cairney. He was subbed off for Kebano in the 76th, and I gotta believe that if he were fit, he'd be out there for the full 90 plus. Don't know if it's still the knee from last season or the ankle from this season, but whatever it is, I hope it heals soon. Theoretically, if it were the knee, he would have addressed it in the off season. To my knowledge, he didn't get anything done to it in the summer. Problem is, he's better at 85-90% than most players at 100. I'm concerned that eventually he'll break down, and we'll be without him for much, much longer. It makes sense to me to park him until he's fully fit, but apparently that's not going to happen. But something's going on with him. It'll be interesting to see if he starts on the bench Wednesday night.

 

I thought that after the Southampton game. Hope it's a quick healer. As far Wednesday, for a game sandwiched between two of the top teams, I think they will be focused and earn at least 1 point and won't be surprised with 3 from the match.

 

Looking at the other fixtures, a win likely moves us up into 17th. With the GD as bad as it is, need to get a few of these toss-up matches in the victory column. Looking forward to seeing the kind of response Claudio gets walking past the away support.

 

From the Beeb: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46367297
TEAM NEWS
Fulham's Andre Schurrle has overcome the minor injury that caused him to miss Sunday's defeat by Chelsea.

Floyd Ayite is out with a groin strain as new manager Claudio Ranieri prepares to face one of his previous clubs for the second successive fixture.

Leicester forward Jamie Vardy is nursing an ongoing groin problem and could miss Wednesday's match.

Harry Maguire is back in training but unlikely to play, while Rachid Ghezzal remains a doubt with a leg injury.

Wes Morgan appeared to pick up an injury against Watford, with manager Claude Puel admitting several unnamed players are fitness concerns.

VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT
Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri on facing Leicester: "It will be very strange. Very emotional moment, but it's okay - that is football.

"I wanted to come back to the Premier League sooner or later. For me it's a good moment now, after Chelsea, to play Leicester.

"Every game is very important. I want to see good progress after Southampton and Chelsea."

Leicester City manager Claude Puel on Ranieri: "We cannot forget what he brought to the club. We will play a tough game, not just because he is the manager but Fulham played very well against Chelsea and Southampton.

"We need to be aware and be careful of this team because they play very well. It will be a good feeling for Claudio and the quality of his team at this moment."

LAWRO'S PREDICTION
After Sunday's defeat at Stamford Bridge, new Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri faces another of his former clubs - and his old players at Leicester will be desperate to beat him, in the nicest possible way.

The Cottagers were competitive against the Blues and you can already see some signs that they are going to be more difficult to beat - but you cannot just conjure up drastically different results overnight with the same pool of players.

Prediction: 1-1

 

My wife and I are looking forward to watching Fulham take on one of our favorites from the last World Cup - Kasper the Friendly Schmeichel.

COYW!

 

Let's see some more improvement (and hopefully 3 points)!

 

Today's lineup:

Rico
Christie, Odoi, Mawson, LeMarchand
Chambers, Seri
Kamara, Vieto, Sessegnon
Mitrovic

Subs: Bettinelli, Ream, Bryan, Anguissa, Cairney, Kebano, Schurrle

Cairney doesn't make a start which is another piece of evidence to make you wonder about his health. Schurrle is available, but maybe not healthy enough to start. Kamara gets the start over Johansen who doesn't even make the bench. Anguissa makes a return to the game squad.

 

A predictable result. But better than a loss. And we ARE improving.

 

Highlights:


A draw was probably a fair result, but oh I thought Odoi was going to get the winner at the death. Such a shame.

The commentator drove me nuts talking about how Cairney wasn't starting because the manager wanted to see more effort from him. I think that's ridiculous. I think it is much more likely to be a fitness issue, especially with a mid-week match. Regardless, the squad looked much better when he came in for Vietto in the second half.

And I know it was partially Vietto's fault, but how many times is Seri going to give up the ball early in the match to give the opposition and easy run into the box?! The difference this week is that the goalkeeper was finally able to stop the shot and prevent a Seri gift from putting Fulham behind.

LeMarchand again gave the ball to the opposition more than to Fulham (although he did feed Chambers nicely for a shot). The Leicester goal was set up once again by a poor header from him into the midfield that fell nicely for Leicester to attack. Joe Bryan didn't set the world on fire when he came in late but I really want him to get the start on Saturday.

Calum Chambers had a good match cutting out passes and again forcing the keeper to make a great save. Sessegnon looked good too. I was frustrated he didn't get the ball more early on, and I think he was frustrated too, because that was about the time he ran to the opposite side of the pitch to get a ball on the end line and almost get it to Mitrovic in the box.

Leicester wasn't at their best, and there is still plenty of room for Fulham to improve, but this felt like one more step in the right direction.

 

I'll take the point, but from the watching/listening at work, I feel they deserved the 3. Cairney had a good chance to take it to 2-0 and lost his footing. And yes Micah, Odoi had a great opportunity to clinch it in the last 30 seconds.

 

Boy howdy either team could have won that one. Frustrated, but ultimately thankful for a point.

We're still going to be in the bottom half of the table when all is said and done, but definitely seeing a marked improvement with the team. Will be interested to see the overall numbers/analytics in a few games time.

 

This was the 1,056th such occasion.