Will Fulham remain Tottenham’s favourite opponents?
The 21st Premier League matchday concludes on Monday night with Fulham taking on Tottenham.
For a bet on the away win, odds of 2.15 are offered at the top, which would have been unthinkable before the start of the season. With regard to the starting position in the summer, a relegation candidate and a CL contender are facing each other. However, the constellation has long since been rearranged.
While the home side, surprisingly in seventh place, have had a very successful season so far and have already dispelled the spectre of relegation early on, things have not gone according to plan at all for Antonio Conte’s visitors. These rather contrasting form curves have meant that the Whites are now within two points of the Lily Whites. Only two points separate the two capital clubs at the moment.
The reason why we wouldn’t dare to predict a home win between Fulham and Tottenham is partly due to the fact that the Cottagers have very rarely scored against Spurs in the past and we also trust Harry Kane and Co. to win at least one point in any case. From the visitors’ point of view, however, it will be important that the defence shows a different face in the upcoming London derby than in the last Premier League encounters. Kick-off on Monday evening is at 21:00!
Fulham – Statistics & current form
Huge credit must go to the Fulham Football Club officials and players these days, weeks and months. After the Cottagers always had to cope with immediate relegation to the Championship in the last two Premier League years, the Londoners were once again considered one of the hottest relegation candidates in 2022/23 after being promoted once again.
Quite the opposite: Marco Silva’s team is clearly one of the positive surprises in the English top flight and, currently in seventh place, still has every chance of grabbing one of the coveted European Cup places. With a positive balance of nine wins, four draws and seven defeats, the cushion on the relegation zone has already increased to 14 points.
Aleksandar Mitrovic and Co. have been particularly good at home recently. They recorded narrow 2-1 victories against Chelsea and Southampton. Three consecutive Premier League home wins were last achieved in 2012.
Fulham finally looking to upset a top five team
At least the great momentum has suffered a bit recently, because after four league victories in a row, Silva’s team lost the match against Newcastle with 0:1. Once again, the Whites were shown the limits by a top team. In the course of the season so far, they have also lost to Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham in the first leg.
In view of this sobering record against the top five teams in the Premier League, it is not an option for us to play the odds on a home win between Fulham and Tottenham on Monday evening.
With the exception of Kebano and Duffy, all players are likely to be on board. On the offensive side, hopes are once again pinned on the Serbian striker Mitrovic, who has scored in all four of his London derbies this season. The brawny attacker is emblematic of two of the Cottagers’ strengths. On the one hand, Fulham have already scored eleven goals with headers. On the other hand, three of the six capital duels so far have been won. The Silva eleven should therefore not be underestimated.
Predicted Fulham line-up:
Leno; Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed; Decordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Mitrovic
Last matches played by Fulham:
Premier League
15/01/2023 – Newcastle 1 – 0 Fulham
13/01/2023 – Fulham 2 – 1 Chelsea FC
FA Cup
07/01/2023 – Hull 0 – 2 Fulham
Premier League
04/01/2023 – Leicester 0 – 1 Fulham
31/12/2022 – Fulham 2 – 1 Southampton
Tottenham – Statistics & current form
The air is getting thinner for Antonio Conte at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. The Spurs cannot be really satisfied with the season so far at national level. The development in recent weeks is particularly worrying, even though the ongoing form crisis actually began before the World Cup break.
All in all, the club from North London could only win three of the last ten Premier League matches. The three aforementioned victories have all come against opponents from the lower reaches of the table.
Tottenham must take a cue from HZ1 against City
It was all the more surprising that the White Hart Lane outfit, packed with world-class professionals, produced a highly effective first half against Manchester City on Thursday night. Tottenham struck twice just before the break and went into the dressing room with what looked like a comfortable lead.
After that, however, Conte’s team showed their ugly face again and had to endure four goals conceded without mercy. In the end, THFC lost 4-2 and finally lost touch with the top four. The gap to Manchester United and Newcastle in places 3/4 is six points.
For months now, the defence has been the major weakness of the capital club, which last year under Conte was actually one of the most stable back lines in the English top flight. In nine of the last ten league games, keeper Hugo Lloris had to make at least two saves. Among the top twelve teams in the Premier League, no other team has conceded more goals than Spurs.
When will Conte get a grip on his defence?
But because at least the last PL away game was won 4-0 at Crystal Palace, they also celebrated a win in the FA Cup including a clean sheet and the upcoming opponent certainly doesn’t bring the calibre of the Citizens, we decided to combine the odds for the under 3.5 with the double chance X2 between Fulham and Tottenham.
It must be the approach of the guests to act more stable defensively and make fewer simple mistakes. Should they succeed, even an away win is possible. Due to injuries, coach Conte hardly has to cope with any notable absences. Changes in the starting eleven are nevertheless conceivable. Among others, Richarlison could get another chance from the start. Hyeung-Min Son is currently running behind his top form just like many other Spurs professionals.
Predicted line-up of Tottenham:
Lloris; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Emerson, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Sessegnon; Kulusevski, Kane, Richarlison
Last matches played by Tottenham:
Premier League
20/01/2023 – Manchester City 4 – 2 Tottenham
15/01/2023 – Tottenham 0 – 2 Arsenal FC
FA Cup
07/01/2023 – Tottenham 1 – 0 Portsmouth
Premier League
05/01/2023 – Crystal Palace 0 – 4 Tottenham
01/01/2023 – Tottenham 0 – 2 Aston Villa
Fulham – Tottenham Direct comparison / H2H record
Fulham have been one of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s all-time favourite opponents in the Beletage on the island recently. Twelve of the past 14 Premier League matches have been victorious against the Lily Whites.
Tottenham have also won all of their last six away games at Craven Cottage. Spurs’ only seven consecutive away wins in the top flight have come against Aston Villa. Also interesting: in eight of the last ten league encounters between these London teams, a maximum of three goals were scored. A good omen for Monday night?
Fulham – Tottenham Tip
The Tottenham Hotspur Football Club players are probably clutching at every last straw at this far from convincing stage of the season. However, whether coach Antonio Conte’s men are aware that they have won ten of their past 14 matches played on Mondays is not known.
Admittedly, this statistic is not the main reason why we tend to tip in the visitors’ direction between Fulham and Tottenham. Instead, we refer primarily to the fact that the home Whites have played a good round so far, but have regularly lost out against the top teams in the league. The Cottagers’ record against Spurs in recent years also speaks a clear language in favour of the fifth-placed team in the table.
