Fulham host West Ham United in Wednesday’s Premier League clash looking to secure consecutive London derby victories at Craven Cottage.
Marco Silva’s men enter into this encounter on the back of a 2–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, a day after the Hammers suffered a 5–2 thrashing at Liverpool.
After kicking off February with three straight defeats - all in the league - Fulham appear to have found their rhythm, winning three consecutive games, starting with victory at Stoke City to secure a place in the FA Cup fifth round.
That was followed by a second-half-inspired win at Sunderland, but the Cottagers burst out of the blocks against Tottenham on Sunday, with Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi firing them into a 2–0 lead before the interval, leaving Richarlison’s 66th-minute effort little more than a consolation.
The result saw Fulham move up a spot to ninth in the Premier League table and within five points of a faltering Chelsea in sixth, while it also saw the Cottagers record their first top-flight double over Spurs in 22 years.
A similar opportunity now presents itself on Wednesday, as the West London club bid to complete just their second Premier League season sweep of West Ham - previously achieving the feat in 2023–24 - having edged a late winner at the London Stadium in December.
Winning five of their last seven home matches across all competitions should hand Fulham plenty of belief, particularly having scored multiple goals in five matches during that period, providing a further boost against defensively frail opposition.
Indeed, only Burnley (56) have conceded more times in the Premier League campaign than West Ham’s 54, with those defensive frailties again exposed on Saturday at Anfield, where the Hammers’ vulnerability from dead balls was laid bare.
Level with Bournemouth on 16 goals shipped from set-piece situations (excluding penalties), Nuno Espirito Santo’s men were undone by three first-half corner routines from Liverpool, proving an insurmountable margin despite a much-improved display after the interval that saw strikes from Tomas Soucek and Taty Castellanos.
The defeat ended West Ham’s three-game unbeaten run in the league (W1, D2) - and four across all competitions, including their FA Cup penalty triumph over Burton Albion - following a win against Burnley and draws with a rejuvenated Manchester United and Bournemouth in the previous top-flight fixtures.
Putting recent results into perspective, the East London outfit have actually shown signs of improvement, picking up 11 points from their last seven Premier League outings, seven more than they managed across the previous 10, where they failed to win a single game.
Despite this marginal upturn, the Hammers remain rooted in the relegation zone, sitting 18th and two points adrift of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who face an uphill task at title-chasing Manchester City on Wednesday, meaning a favourable result there, combined with a win at the Cottage, would lift West Ham out of the drop zone.
However, a wretched record against fellow London rivals leaves room for concern, as the visitors have lost seven of their eight Premier League city derbies this season (W1), with only three sides suffering more such defeats in a single campaign.
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