The biggest match in the Sky Bet Championship season so far comes along to open up another weekend of action on Friday night when the top two meet at Craven Cottage when Fulham play host to Bournemouth in a tasty showdown.
These two have set the standard in the division this season and as we approach the halfway mark it appears it is going to take something special to deny them both a return to the Premier League but each team has a chance to prove they are the best here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels. The build-up begins at 7pm with the match kicking off in London at 7.45pm.
Fulham
I think it is fair to say that Fulham have looked a class above as they attempt to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking. They had a bit of a wobble in the middle of the season where they lost three times in six matches but since then they are undefeated in nine matches, winning seven of them but drawing their last two. The latter matches will be a bit of a concern but they came at a pretty hectic time of the season so they weren’t exactly terrible results.
In that nine match burst they have conceded just three goals and are really getting the business done at both ends of the pitch. Three times in those seven wins they scored four times and then on another occasion they scored seven so the Cottagers are in a really good place at present. This will be the toughest test they have faced so far this term but you sense having had almost a full week to prepare they will be up for the challenge.
Bournemouth
Things were going very well for Bournemouth over the opening 15 matches this term. They were unbeaten in that time but they have now lost two of their five outings since then and only have one win in their last five so they need to do something to readdress their mini wobble. All clubs are going to have them over the course of the season but the ones who go up automatically make their blips as short as possible and that is the task at hand for the Cherries now.
Injuries are beginning to become an issue for Scott Parker and his men. If there is a criticism of Bournemouth it is that they don’t have the deepest squad and probably rely on one or two players a little too much and when they suffer a drop off or aren’t available the team suffers as a result. They have something of a free hit here though. There is a sizeable gap between themselves and third in the table so they can approach this with comfort knowing that a win would do wonders for them for the rest of the campaign.
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Team News
Marco Silva has suggested that Nathaniel Chalobah is back in training but this match is expected to come too soon for him. Tom Cairney has recovered from illness however and he is in the squad for this high profile clash.
Bournemouth have a whole raft of absentees for this match with Adam Smith, Robbie Brady, Jordan Zemura, Ben Pearson, Junior Stanislas, Lloyd Kelly and Gary Cahill all either out with injury or major doubts. Jefferson Lerma is definitely out as he serves another suspension.
Betting
I would probably have favoured Fulham for this match anyway but when you consider the amount of players Bournemouth have missing and the quality of them I think the natural selection here is the home side. They are going into this match in a rich vein of form and while Bournemouth still carry some danger, any team that is missing the amount of players that they are will struggle and I think their recent results have suggested as much.
Fulham are always a tough nut to crack at Craven Cottage, largely because of the volume of goals they score on their own patch and Bournemouth potentially missing their two first choice centre-backs isn’t going to help in that regard. It means two things, one that they can’t offer up much in the way of a low block which some teams use successfully against Fulham, and two that they are probably going to have to match Fulham in the attacking department which won’t be easy. The home side look good things here.
Tips
Back Fulham to beat Bournemouth for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
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