Fulham at Wigan - Final Regular Season Match of 2019-20

Fulham wraps up the season that started nearly a year ago by traveling to face red-hot Wigan. Since early February, Wigan has only lost one match and that was to Brentford. Midway through the season Wigan was at the bottom of the table, but they are now in 13th place. However, you can't say "comfortably mid-table" because Wigan is facing a 12 point reduction for going bankrupt. They are currently 10 points outside relegation, so if Wigan doesn't get relief from their appeal they will need a win combined with Luton and Charlton doing no better than a draw in order to stay up.

More importantly, Fulham needs to win if they want a shot at automatic promotion. Fulham comfortably beat Wigan 2-0 back in September when the visitors couldn't manage a single shot on target. A Fulham win this time, combined with a West Brom loss against QPR and a Brentford draw or loss at Barnsley, will see Fulham through to the Premier League without having to go through the playoffs. All matches will be played at the same time so keep an eye on the scoreboard.

Harrison Reed will be out due to his double yellow red card. Hopefully Cairney will be fully fit after playing a few minutes against Sheffield Wednesday. I haven't heard any news on Kamara, but I assume he'll still be out. The match is Wednesday at 2:30pm EDT available on FFCTV.

Compared to prior seasons, Fulham is doing 8 points worse than in 2017-18 when they just missed out on second place and 3 points better than in 2016-17 when Fulham finished sixth and lost to Reading in the first round of the playoffs.

Getting automatic promotion is still a remote possibility and the playoffs are far more likely. For that reason I hope everyone stays healthy and no one loses their head and earns a red card.

 

This is very much a character defining match. They’re playing for their existence. That’s a pretty strong motivator. We’re better than they are, and our recent form is actually better as well. No Reed hurts. No other way to couch it. We know what we’re playing for too, but one could argue that it’s less motivating in that we need help, and a lot of it.
Character
Do we have it or not?
We’ll find out today.

 

I will be following the match center and social media for this one. ESPN+ is airing both the Brentford and West Brom matches if you're looking to actively watch instead of staring at the scoreboards. I'm as hopeful as the rest, but I can't really see both Brentford and West Brom slipping up again. And with the first playoff match being either 4 or 5 days away, there are definitely needs to keep healthy and out of the referee's book.

My hope is that Fulham put together a quality match that will give them confidence moving forward.

 

All the pressure is on the 2 teams above, not expecting the HaHa’s to help us vs WBA, so hoping for an injury, red-card free day, and if a miracle happens gladly take it.

 

is it just me, or does no one join the chats anymore. I was just looking for this game since i'm getting nothing done with work.

 

Maybe we can get a playoff chat going.

Pretty damn close to pulling a Houdini, but glad to know that a win still wouldn’t have been enough. The big disappointment is a draw wasn’t enough to get us past Brentford (wow, did they ever GAG!) and into a favorable matchup w/Forest. Cardiff is going to be 180 minutes (maybe more) on a knife’s edge.

 

Biggest surprise of the day is probably the fact that no one will have a favorable matchup with Forest. Swansea made up a minus five goal differential to pip Forest and take the last playoff spot. So it'll be Bees vs Swans and Cottagers vs Bluebirds.

 

Monday 12:45 mountain I think is what I saw on Sky

 

That WAS the biggest surprise of the day. I did not think it was realistic to have the GD swing that dramatically in one day.

Fulham went at it more in this game than against West Brom, so I was encouraged to see that. Mitro had a couple of great chances that he just didn't convert. I'm not sure if this will make it to the highlights, but at the end of the match Wigan pulled their keeper up into Fulham's box when they took a corner. Bobby DeCordova-Reid got the clearance, but it didn't seem like he was aware of the situation and drew a foul rather than getting the ball up field. I was hoping for a finish like the final home match in 2014-15 when Ross McCormack raced down the field to score the winner before the keeper could get back from his forward position.

In the end, I don't think it matters much that those opportunities were missed. West Brom took automatic promotion off the table and I think Cardiff and Swansea are pretty equivalent. Forest was the weaker team right now of those three and the Swans will certainly be a tougher opponent for Brentford.

 

The Ha’s all but parked the bus for the last quarter hour or so plus when I tuned in. They weren’t good enough to play keepaway, so they absorbed the pressure and lumped the ball forward without a lot of ambition. Still, would have been nice to get a break, especially after Barnsley’s shocker against the Bees. Wow.

 

@astroevan, thanks for the correction, hadn’t realized Forest went from a lock to a team with no chair when the music stopped.

 

Highlights from Fulham. Not a lot to see from Fulham here unfortunately. It wasn't as lopsided as these make it look. I'm still not sure how Fulham didn't get the ball in with De Cordova-Reid, Kamara, and Mitro all getting involved right at the end.