Fulham at Southampton

Fulham has the chance to put the sword to Southampton on Saturday. If Southampton does not win they are relegated from the Premier League. That is a tall order since they haven't won since early March and only have two wins at home all season. When Southampton last won they were even on points with the other two bottom teams. With only three points from draws over the 10 matches since they have stayed in the relegation zone and that has doomed them. Meanwhile the team that was below them back in March, Bournemouth, has earned 18 points and rocketed off the bottom to safety.

Fulham will have Mitrovic back in the Premier League for the first time since Fulham's loss in early March to Arsenal. Mitrovic has not gotten a goal since January 3, but remains Fulham's top scorer. He was clearly still struggling with injury after the World Cup, so I hope he's spent the past few weeks getting healthy and screwing his head on straight. I think Fulham has looked a bit more dynamic over the past few weeks and if they keep that up it could lead to a good return for Mitrovic.

I feel bad for the Southampton fans having been in their shoes three times over the past few years. Relegation is inevitable for them at this point and I think it will happen on Saturday. The game kicks off on Peacock at 10am EDT.

 

I got bold and bet over 3.5 goals. Didn't put much up. Hoping it comes off.

 

Took no pleasure in putting final nail in the Saints coffin, but got a legit shot at beating the all time Prem pts total. Really loved Mitro’s goal celebration

 

The highlights:


I don't take a lot of joy out of sending the Saints down, but what a great position to be in for Fulham! Finally not on the receiving end of Premier League relegation!

This wasn't a great match as you would expect from a team with nothing to play for and another with relegation a near certainty. I did love the symmetry of this match with Vinicius and Mitrovic both scoring. Vinicius has been much better in the past few weeks so I was pleased that he could get one more and hear his name sung by the fans before giving way for Mitrovic. Cairney didn't have his best day, but I loved that ball to Wilson that set up the Vinicius score - plus I liked Reed's tenacity to win the ball back.

Then Mitrovic finally comes on and we're all just waiting for him to get his shot. Cairney missed a great opportunity to send him through shortly after he came on, but we didn't have to wait to long to see him score. What a classic Mitrovic score that was. Who else is going to throw his head at ball that low in the middle of the box?! Welcome back Mitro!

 

Ditto on all of the Mitro comments. The announcers even got it right. Very few even get to that ball, much less do what he did…get around his marker, adjust to it being BEHIND him, then get it on frame the only way he could, with a header. The guy is a goal scorer, period. His temper is his own worst enemy, but would he be who he is without it? I wonder…