Fulham set for pivotal week in fight to avoid the drop which starts at Brighton

Fulham have been much improved in recent times but have still only collected 12 points from 18 games. There has been an upturn in performances since the opening couple of months of the season which saw them avoid defeat just twice in the opening nine fixtures.

The turnaround began with a stunning 2-1 victory over Leicester City and then a run of five draws followed with a draw against current Champions Liverpool and Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham.

Despite all this, they are still in the bottom three, five points behind Wednesday’s opponents Brighton although they do have a game in hand on the Seagulls against Burnley.

If Parker is to guide the Cottagers to safety come to the end of the season, it’s games like these which they have to win to avoid the drop and with a trip to the Hawthorns at the weekend, this is a vital week for the West London club if they want to remain in the division.

Goals have been a massive problem for Fulham this season, just 15 goals in 18 games, only Burnley and bottom of the table Sheffield United have scored fewer than the Cottagers, although they have tightened up defensively of late, conceding just six times in seven matches.

Across that run, the team have come up against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United which has underlined the defensive improvement which Parker has been able to make but he is in desperate need of his attacking players to become more clinical moving forward.

The game against Brighton comes just over a month after the pair met in a cagey goalless draw at Craven Cottage in which both sides wanted to give very little away but with Graham Potter’s side having beaten Leeds United recently, it has opened the gap up a little more.

However, if Parker can guide the Whites to consecutive victories in the league for the first time this season then it will go a long way to improving their prospects of staying up which is even more important because February starts with three tough tests against Leicester City, West Ham and Everton.

Having a largely settled side has been key in recent months for the English manager because at the start of the season the team just kept getting chopped and changed which had a negative affect and caused the poor start to the campaign.

Fulham exited the FA Cup on Sunday against Burnley but this was the least of the club’s worries, knowing how big a week ahead it is, it allowed for several first team players to be rested including the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ademola Lookman, who has been vital in recent weeks and will be a key figure if they are to avoid the drop come to the end of the season.

Another factor for this clash is Brighton’s poor home form in the league which has seen them win just once at the Amex since December 2019 – this came in project restart against Arsenal with a last-minute winner from striker Neal Maupay.

This is something Fulham can try and take advantage of with the Seagulls boasting the third-worst home record in the league, only better than the bottom two sides, West Brom and Sheffield United, although Fulham haven’t been great on their travels having collected just six points from their eight away games to date.

It’s set to be a vital clash down on the South Coast on Wednesday evening as the battle to avoid the drop intensifies.

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