Fulham vs. Blackburn

Fulham host Blackburn early on Saturday with kickoff at 7:30 am on ESPN+.

I'm sure we all remember the 7-0 beat-down that Fulham gave Blackburn back in November. It was one of the most fun matches I've experienced as a Fulham fan. Now before we all go salivating over another goal-fest, it is important to remember that Blackburn was down to 10 men just 30 minutes into the match when Fulham was up by only two goals. Fulham is unlikely to get that kind of advantage again. However, Blackburn have been in a funk recently with only three wins in 2022 (Fulham has eight). Plus they are still without lead striker Brereton Diaz as he recovers from an ankle injury. Blackburn did get a vital win against QPR on Saturday to stay in the middle of the playoff pack rather than slipping dangerously to the edge.

One thing I had forgotten about the November match was that Hector started at CB while Tosin served a three game red-card suspension. Hector did fine between Odoi and Ream in one of his few starts this season. Fulham was also still easing Carvalho back into action after an extended absence due to injury and then illness. The Fulham squad that starts Saturday morning should be even stronger with Tosin, Williams, and Carvalho likely to feature. However, I'm still not expecting a seven goal victory against a Blackburn side that will be looking to prove themselves after being embarrassed at home. I expect a win for Fulham again, but this time by just a goal.

 

If I recall, Blackburn went on a bit of a tear after that 7-nil shellacking at our hands. They climbed the table so impressively that they're still very much in the playoff hunt, currently sitting fourth. I believe they got to as high as third before leveling, but they're still much better than they showed that night. Our old friend Andy Carroll moved on to West Brom in January (where he's done absolutely squat in there miserable run since Steve Bruce took over). They are in a bit of a funk right now, as MM rightly noted, but they'll be better this time, no doubt about that. No one likes to be embarrassed like that, and I'm sure they remember quite well. Just hope we match their intensity at the start and not concede an early goal. We seem to have been somewhat better on the road this season. Let's hope we match the energy they'll no doubtedly want to somewhat avenge that drubbing with.

 

4:30….

 

You are quite right. They didn't lose again for almost a month and a half! Not only did they get up to third, but they even were in second place for a few matches at the end of January. Fulham was 12 points ahead of them when they faced off in November and are now 13 points ahead with a game in hand, so Blackburn has been able to almost keep pace with Fulham.

With yesterday's results Fulham goes into this match with Huddersfield in second place eight points behind Fulham. However, Bournemouth has five(!) games in hand vs. the Terriers so their second place standing can't be considered secure at this point.

The lineup this morning is the strongest team Fulham as put out IMHO, so I'm preparing to be deeply disappointed!

 

Solid, workmanlike performance. We seem to score more when other players besides Mitro score. Still not a great performance defensively, but you can’t argue with a clean sheet.

 

The highlights:


Okay, I think we're at the point that we can start talking about the P word! Fulham gets a comfortable (but not spectacular) win against one of the better teams in the league and then Bournemouth loses to PNE. Fulham is 11 points ahead of 2nd place Huddersfield (with two games in hand) and 12 points ahead of 3rd place Bournemouth (with Bournemouth having two games in hand). That is a really nice lead with 12 games remaining. Fulham needs 15 points to get to the typical level needed for automatic promotion and 21 points to win the league. With Fulham's points per match average in 2022 of 2.6 PPM, that means Fulham could get enough points to win the league in nine more matches. And that would mean Fulham would get the honor-guard treatment from the team they play in 10 matches: Scott Parker's Bournemouth. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself, but that would be interesting.

It was a good day for Fulham, but the cherry on top would have been a third goal from William's half-court shot! Oh how I wanted that one to go in!

 

I'm beginning to think that a lot of our success on any given outing depends upon what kind of day #8 has. At the very least, he makes us slightly less dependable on Mitro. But at his normal, average best, he makes us almost indefensible. His cross that led to the first goal was very good, and his run down the right flank for the second was brilliant. Speaking of brilliant, what about that pass from Tosin to find the streaking Wilson? That was a Man Citeh-worthy play.
I don't know if we can safely start talking about promotion yet Micah. Still a lot of football left to play. Somebody else could go on a lengthy unbeaten streak like we did in the '17-'18 season. But it would probably have to be promulgated by either Huddersfield or Bournemouth. The three teams behind the Cherries in the playoff spots, plus Sheffield United, are probably too far behind, point wise, to catch us with such a run. I admit, though, it looks very, very good at the moment. I'll feel better if we make it to April in pretty much the same, or better, shape. Then I'll be a bit more willing to begin discussing what we need to start doing to stay up this time.
But not yet.