Fulham look to extend their lead at the top of the Championship as they welcome play-off chasing Huddersfield Town

The Cottagers have dropped points just once since the turn of the year and since their FA Cup exit have turned their full attention to another immediate top-flight return.

Since promotion via the play-offs at the end of the 2017/2018 season, there has not been a single season that Fulham were not either promoted from the Championship or relegated from the Premier League. Without question, they have solidified themselves as a resident ‘yo-yo club.’

After missing out on promotion in 2017, they beat Aston Villa in the 2018 play-off final to be promoted to the top flight and Shahid Khan and the ownership group pumped in over £100 million to survive and even thrive in the top flight.

The reality was far bleaker, however, as the West London side only mustered up a measly 26 points in 38 games and were subsequently relegated. That works out at a little under £4 million per point achieved an expensively disastrous campaign.

Under Scott Parker’s stewardship, Fulham did not let the interruption from the pandemic stunt their progress and were once again promoted via the play-offs despite a disappointing second half to the regular season.

Parker proved loyal to the team that got him promoted at first and that was potentially his downfall as it would take a long time before new signings and quality capable of keeping Fulham in the league were integrated. As such, they were once again relegated to the second tier and fans were beginning to become frustrated.

Last summer, Marco Silva was given the reigns following Parker’s departure and the Portuguese manager has done a terrific job.

With experience at some sizeable European clubs such as Sporting and Olympiacos paired with Premier League experience at Hull City, Watford and Everton, Silva certainly arrived at Craven Cottage with the credentials to take Fulham up once again.

The Cottagers currently sit six points clear at the top of the table and 10 points clear of third-placed Blackburn Rovers. As the buffer has grown, Fulham have undoubtedly asserted themselves as the dominant force in this league, suffering just a single defeat since October.

Since being relegated alongside Fulham back in 2019, Huddersfield Town have found re-adjusting to the Championship a difficult task. 18th and 20th place finishes have indicated that the two-year top-flight stay may have negatively impacted the club in the long run.

Despite 75% majority stakeholder Phil Hodgkinson’s assets going into administration, Dean Hoyle has stepped in to steady the ship and now owns a 25% stake, as well as taking on a Director role.

On the pitch, Carlos Corberán’s Terriers have been ruthless and have battled their way to victories in a remarkable run to the play-offs.

Surpassing the form of even the imperious Fulham, Huddersfield have not tasted the bitterness of defeat since November 27th when they suffered a 2-1 loss to Middlesbrough at The John Smith’s Stadium.

As such, the Yorkshire side have thrown themselves right into the play-off mix and have potentially even ignited distant hopes of a late automatic promotion charge.

Since progression in the FA Cup, Huddersfield have been held to two 0-0 draws against Preston North End and Sheffield United. However, the Yorkshire side will travel down to London for the early kick-off with great confidence, in a game that they can almost see as a free hit.

In Fulham’s last outing, the enigma that is Aleksandar Mitrovic stepped up with the winning goal, and in doing so, levelled the Championship record of 31 goals in a season with a whopping 16 games of the campaign remaining.

With a player in such hot form as Mitrovic, it is somewhat overwhelming to see players like Fabio Carvalho, Neeskens Kebano, Bobby Decordova-Reid and Harry Wilson all having very productive seasons on top of what the Serb is achieving.

It is near on impossible to not only predict the outcome of this game but also to predict the type of game that is likely to play out.

Both sides can score goals with Fulham, in particular, posing a staggering 78 goals in just 30 games, averaging well over two goals per game. On the other hand, both teams have also proven to be defensively solid of late, with Fulham coming off the back of consecutive clean sheets and the Terriers looking for their fifth blank in a row.

As such, the game could certainly offer a high octane, end to end affair resulting in goals galore. The viewers on Sky Sports taking in the early kick-off will surely be hoping for this outcome, but there is also a great chance that the league’s two form teams could cancel each other out.

Fulham have been lucky with their injury load and will only be without Rodrigo Munoz Carvalho and Terence Kongolo, with Kenny Tete set to return. As for Huddersfield, they are still missing the qualities of Chelsea starlet Levi Colwill as he has suffered setbacks regarding a knee injury. Other than that, Huddersfield are also clean on the injury front, bar a few long term absentees.

However the game pans out, one thing is for sure, Craven Cottage will be the place to be at lunchtime on Saturday, weather depending of course.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt

columns]