Both Fulham and Brighton eye winnable game at the Cottage

Fulham beat Brighton 4-2 in their last meeting in SW6
Photo: PremierLeague.com

Two places and two points separate these sides at the bottom of the Premier League.

Brighton were well beaten on their last outing at Leicester and have won just one of their last nine Premier League Games. Fulham enter on the back of their best performance of the season on Sunday. Some may contend it was only one bad penalty decision away from a victory over Champions Liverpool.

In truth, they were a little overran once Liverpool woke up but they weren’t the first. If they recapture Sunday’s first half performance,  they may be the ones doing the overrunning.

Adam Webster, Tariq Lamptey and Adam Lallana could well return for Brighton. Jose Izquierdo and Florin Andone are still out. Kenny Tete and Terence Kongolo re longer term injuries for Fulham. However forward talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic may be available for Scott Parker.

Fulham lead the historical series narrowly by just 23-22 with five draws. Prior to their 2-2 draw in Sussex on October 1 2018, Brighton had won the previous five.

Fulham won their first in seven however in January 29, 2019 with a 4-2 win. Calum Chambers, and Luciano Vietto scored before and after two from Mitrovic. Glenn Murray scored both Brighton’s goals.

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The return of Mitrovic gives Parker a dilemma. Should he stick with the Ademola Lookman and Ivan Cavaleiro offence which relied on passing the ball along the ground, but eschewed any aerial threat?

Sure it was too good for even Liverpool’s accomplished defenders at points. However Cavaleiro’s poor finishing failed to fully capitalise on the chances created. Also the previous experiment of useless and unthreatening short corners was replaced with a diet of useless and unthreatening long corners.

The giant Serb is both a better finisher and a bigger threat in the air than anyone else at the club. However Brighton are likely to field three players who may influence that decision.

Seagulls’ centre half Lewis Dunk is better in the air than he is on the ground. Next to him will be ex Fulham giant Dan Burn who stands at 6’7″.  He made 69 appearances for the Cottagers after arriving as a youngster from Darlington. All that would suggest an aerial assaults’ may be pointless.

Tariq Lamptey has had rave reviews this year and is a fullback whose is influential is going forward and very strong defensively. These tend to suggest Fulham will stick with Lookman and Cavaleiro at least until they tire from playing twice in four days.

Neil Maupay with just four goals in 12 games is the only Brighton player who has scored more than twice in the league this year. That shock 2-1 win at Villa Park is the only time in eight league games they have scored more than once.

Whites defender Tosin Adarabioyo told FFCtv:

“We’ve looked at Brighton now and seen what they’re capable of.

“The boys are ready. We performed very well [on Sunday]so we just need to replicate that and push even more to get a better result.”

Graham Potter sees similarities between the two sides:

“Certainly recently they have done well in terms of results and they have played well – a lot of what they do is really good. They’re a bit like us, they’re fighting for points.”

It’s a big game for both sides and at some point Fulham have to start winning home games against sides outside the big six. Arsenal, Everton and Crystal Palace have all left Craven Cottage with three points.

As well as that seven of Brighton’s ten points have come away from home, which should give Potter’s men grounds for some confidence.

Kick off is at 8pm this evening.

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