Craven Cottage go host West London derby between Fulham and Brentford for Premier League this Saturday night. Na four months wey these two teams last jam for Gtech Community Stadium, wey Fulham win 3-2.
Match Preview
After dem no fit win any of opening three PL matches, Fulham collect all three points last weekend against newly-promoted Leeds United.
Dem nearly share point for largely boring match until Gabriel Gudmundsson accidentally head ball enter him own net, gift Marco Silva men 1-0 home win.
Silva talk say dem little bit lucky but happy with players effort, and urge dem to create habit of keeping clean sheets after first clean sheet for season.
Fulham na one of only two teams (with Arsenal) wey never concede from open play this season, four goals wey dem concede na from corners (2) and penalties (2).
Two of their three goals scored this season come from set pieces. Dem wan climb table from 11th and try win three league matches in a row against Brentford, second time after 1928-1929.
Brentford boss Keith Andrews don get mixed start, but Bees don perform better than expected with summer squad changes.
Brentford lose both away matches this season, but collect four points from home matches (2-2 draw with Chelsea last weekend, 1-0 win vs Aston Villa).
Dem also beat Villa on penalties 4-2 in EFL Cup third round after 1-1 draw. Andrews happy say players dey improve as group.
Bees dey prepare for trip to Craven Cottage, wey dem don lose two of three PL visits (W1), more than previous 15 trips (W6 D8 L1). Dem fit lose back-to-back away league matches to Fulham for first time since Jan 1954.
But Brentford fit reason say Fulham don lose five of last seven London derbies (W2) despite previous 10-match unbeaten run vs other London clubs.
Fulham Premier League Form:
D D L W
Fulham Form (All Competitions):
D D W L W
Brentford Premier League Form:
L W L D
Brentford Form (All Competitions):
L W W L D W
Team News
Fulham go get full squad for weekend. Alex Iwobi don dey recover from knock, but train this week and fit start. Club-record signing Kevin fit take his place, potentially making full PL debut at either flank. Rodrigo Muniz no score last three starts, Silva fit recall Raul Jimenez. Antonee Robinson go continue compete with Ryan Sessegnon for left-back.
Brentford Jordan Henderson, Ethan Pinnock, Igor Thiago miss EFL Cup win but Andrews confirm say na rest. Dem dey fit for weekend along with Kristoffer Ajer. Gustavo Nunes and Paris Maghoma still out, but dey progress, Mikkel Damsgaard recovered from illness fit start alongside Henderson and Mathias Jensen in midfield.
Fulham Possible Starting XI:
Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Lukic; Iwobi, King, Kevin; Jimenez
Brentford Possible Starting XI:
Kelleher; Kayode, Collins, Van den Berg, Lewis-Potter; Jensen, Henderson, Damsgaard; Ouattara, Thiago, Schade
Prediction
We dey predict Fulham 1-1 Brentford. Both West London teams don dey close for recent years, each win four of last nine meetings (D1). Another tight, entertaining match dey for weekend, and although Brentford do double over Fulham last season, we dey back Fulham to at least share points this time.
