Fulham vs Bournemouth

Fulham hosts Bournemouth for their last match of 2024. It also marks the halfway point in the season. Kickoff is Sunday at 10 am EST on Peacock (I think - it is difficult for me to even know where to watch Fulham from this undisclosed location).

I never, ever, expected Fulham to go undefeated against Tottenham, Brighton, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea. That is an amazing accomplishment. Meanwhile, Bournemouth are also undefeated in December and sit a point and two places in front of Fulham. I don't think anyone anticipated that this match would be between two teams within a few points of a European spot when the schedule was released.

Fulham continue to face injury related absenses with Nelson and Tete out, and Smith Rowe's staus TBD. However Fulham has still gotten the job done despite injuries with guys like Castagne and Diop stepping up and Marco's decision to play 5 at the back against Chelsea. Fulham's squad depth is a major factor in their December performance.

Bournemouth have also had some head-scratching performances this season, like their loss to Leicester and their two late goals needed to edge past Ipswich. So these two teams should be evenly matched. I think a draw is likely, but Bournemouth's style of playing on the counter could put Fulham in a frustrating position that limits their opportunities to score. This really could go either way and a lot will probably depend on who scores first.

 

I was a bit surprised to see Fulham played 5 at the back again, but I think Silva is trying to get his best 11 players out there. I haven't been able to see much, but it was really unfortunate that last goal came off of a Fulham mistake. Diop has been so solid this season. This is the first time I remember a costly error from him this season when it seemed like it happened every match last season.

Despite having the lead twice, it seems like a draw was probably a fair result. It is frustrating that this match had one of those goals early in the second half and another right at the end - the two windows when Fulham can't seem to lock things down.

Enough complaining. Undefeated in December!

 

I'm not blaming Diop for this one. He bailed out Andresen--who was uncharacteristically shaky--a few times, and it was his only mistake. I think we have solid quality in the CB position, but if Marco wants to play 3 CBs more often, we may need to get another one in January (or promote someone from the academy) to bring the number up to 5. On to Ipswich, and another match that feels like a banana peel. We're playing a day after my birthday (don't ask which one), and I'm hoping for a belated present.

 

Another fairly even match that could have gone any direction in the end. Diop was 100% at fault for the second Bournemouth goal but it wouldn't have mattered had he not made so many good plays earlier in the match. I don't know if Bournemouth planned their press hoping that Diop would err or if they were just trying to limit Fulham playing down the left (or perhaps a little of both), but I thought numerous times that Bournemouth were forcing Fulham to play to Diop. I was hoping for sixth in the table, but I'll take eighth just as well.

I think the most important aspect of this match was that Fulham actually scored from a set piece for the first time in a hundred plus attempts (not bounced a corner off a former player's backside). That first goal was beautiful (the second was pretty sweet as well). They need to figure out how to make that happen a bit more frequently.

Only a one loss from the last eleven matches in 2024. Let's keep the momentum going into the new year!