Fulham are fast becoming the surprise package of the Premier League after losing just four of their opening 12 league matches (W5, D3). As a result, they have now picked up a top-half position as well as 18 points, which is an improvement even on their last Premier League campaign that did not lead to relegation - a 12th place finish in 2012/13. Their most recent win, a dogged 3-2 victory away at Leeds United, had manager Marco Silva understandably praising their ‘fighting spirit’.
The hosts now have an opportunity to register four Premier League games without defeat for the first time since February 2021, and for Silva, this would be an ideal fixture in which to achieve it. It will be the first time the Portuguese coach has faced Everton since he was sacked by them in December 2019. Finally getting his revenge would be especially tasty after losing his two most recent head-to-heads against the Toffees, conceding at least three goals in both.
Coincidentally, last week’s impressive 3-0 win for Everton over Crystal Palace was the first time they had scored more than twice in a Premier League game since victory over the same opponent in May. It was also just their third clean sheet of the season in the league - an area of improvement they must keep working on as only four sides had managed fewer coming into the round. The task for Frank Lampard's side now will be replicating that on the road, although that has often proven tough highlighted by seven consecutive away league matches without doing so (W1, D2, L4).
History is not on their side here, with the capital often proving an unhappy hunting ground for the Merseyside team. They are winless in their last eight league visits to London against all opponents, and even have the unwanted tag of being the side to lose more historical Premier League away games in London than any other team (85).
Players to watch:
Two of the PL’s most in-form creators, Fulham’s Andreas Pereira (26) and Everton’s Alex Iwobi (26), bagged a pair of assists in their most recent appearances for their sides. Ahead of the round, the former is joint-fourth for the most assists in the division (four), while the latter (five) is second only to Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne (31).
Hot stat:
Fulham, who have scored in every home Premier League game this season, are looking to score 3+ goals in three successive top-flight games for the first time since 1966.
