Fulham return to Craven Cottage in a massive Premier League clash, as they look to reduce the gap with sixth-placed Bournemouth and keep up their pursuit of European football. As things stand, all three forms of Europe are available to Fulham.
Fulham are back at Craven Cottage and will welcome Bournemouth in a massive Premier League tie which carries significant ramifications for European football next season.
The Cottagers currently lie in 11th in the Premier League table after a poor away showing at Arsenal, where they lost 3-0.
But, back on home soil, where they are both much more comfortable and much better, they still have a chance of finishing as high as sixth.
With Aston Villa advancing into the Europa League final, sixth in the Premier League is likely to be a Champions League spot, assuming Villa still finish fifth exactly.
So, with three matches to go, this is a game of immense importance for both sides.
Fulham need to win to boos their European hopes.Form Guide
Fulham have been excellent at Craven Cottage and pretty rubbish anywhere else and that theme has continued since the international break.
They were easily beaten by Liverpool and Arsenal on the road, collecting a point thanks to some brilliant goalkeeping by Berne Leno against Brentford, while they were victorious against Aston Villa at home.
They now have two of their remaining three matches at home, and will hope they can continue to use their Craven Cottage fortress to their advantage.
Bournemouth meanwhile, are absolutely flying.
The club lost Antoine Semenyo in January and they have not lost since he left, not losing a single Premier League clash since January 3.
That has seen them rise to the brink of Premier League football and their 3-0 win over Crystal Palace last week was a prime example of just how efficient they can be in front of goal.
Previous Meetings
The clubs first met in September 1928, when Bournemouth defeated Fulham 1-0.
Since then, the clubs have only played 42 times in total, with Bournemouth winning 17 of those matches, Fulham winning 12, and there have been 13 draws.
The last two fixtures between the two sides have been played at the Vitality Stadium, with Bournemouth winning both.
At Craven Cottage, though, Bournemouth have not won since 2018, when they won 3-0, though in that time, Fulham have only won once, in February 2024.
Team News
There are no new injuries to be concerned about for Fulham, with Sander Berge due to return to the team after missing out against Arsenal with illness.
Other than that, there are no changes to Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi and Kevin’s plights, with all three sidelined in the mid to long term.
Predicted XI
Fulham: 4-2-3-1: Leno; Robinson, Bassey, Andersen (c), Castagne; Berge, Lukic; Chukwueze, King, Wilson; Jimenez
Odds
Fulham are 13/8 to win this one, slightly favoured by Bournemouth’s 13/10.
A draw comes in at 23/10.
What did Marco Silva say?
“Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi, they are going to be out of the game,” Silva confirmed. “We had a difficult week with one or two. We have to keep assessing every single day.
“Sander is through the illness, but he's been the one that is suffering a little bit more.
“He felt something in the week of Brentford, was one of the reasons why he was not recovered for Villa, and last week he had probably a bigger one, and it’s had an impact on him.
“He's trying his best, he's going to be in contention for the game. We have to assess him, to see if he's going to be in condition to start.
“Raúl, the same situation as well, we have to assess him. He's not training full week with the team, and we have to assess him tomorrow, too.
“But both are going to be in contention, and tomorrow I'm going to take a decision related with that situation.”