Fulham at Leicester

Fulham travel to the King Power Stadium on Saturday to face Leicester at 1000 EST. The match will be broadcast on Peacock.

Leicester have 9 losses over their last 11 Premier League matches (to go with a single win and a single draw) and they face a Fulham squad that struggles to beat lower table sides. This sounds like a resounding 3-1 win for the Foxes to me. Pardon my pessimism, but it’s hard for me to be hopeful after the last two Fulham PL matches (Ipswich and West Ham).

I guess my only hope is to be entertained, but I may have to go to the theater and watch Gladiator II for that.

 

I share your pessimism @astroevan but then that usually seems like when Fulham comes out and impresses me the most - so I don't know what to think!

I won't be surprised if there are some changes in the lineup. Smith Rowe was pretty much invisible in the last match. With Berge just now available again he might not be ready for a start, but if Smith Rowe starts again and plays like last week I hope there would be a halftime change to Berge. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I won't be disappointed if Diop starts over Andersen. Also, more Josh King please. Maybe an 80th minute substitution this time.

 

You were saying something about Smith-Rowe being overdue?

 

Against a better team, this day would have gone differently, but Leicester is not a better team. The Foxes didn't convert their chances and failed to take advantage of opportunities Fulham presented them. This is the kind of win that I would have hoped Fulham could have pulled off against some of the lower table teams. No big mistakes, no big misses (well maybe that Muniz miss at the end), Fulham just kept plugging away until they finally got the three points. Good choices on subs too. Iwobi seemed a little off his game so a halftime switch was appreciated and Cairney was just the person needed to manage the closing stages of the match.

That goal from Smith Rowe was one of the ugliest Fulham scores since McDonald put one in against Millwall off his backside. I really appreciate his effort and bravery to get that ball into the net, but the face plant looked painful!

Watching this match I realized that I'm frustrated with Fulham's hesitation on through-balls. Guys make runs, but often there is a delay in the pass. The chance is missed or when the ball does come it gets cut out because the defense got in the gap. A great example came just before Fulham's second goal. Stop the video at 9:29 and look at the pass Lukic makes. He's got Wilson in on goal, but instead he sends the ball back to Smith Rowe. Now, it all works out in the end, but that ball to Wilson is the pass that should have been made.