On paper this should be Fulham's easiest Cup tie in this year's trail and Burnley's toughest.
The Cottagers, 15th in the Premiership, have been drawn at home for the third successive round after successfully dismissing fellow top flight clubs Birmingham (3-1) and Charlton (3-0) with the aid of a Steed Malbranque hat trick.
Stan Ternent's Burnley, 15th in Division One (20 places below Fulham), knocked out fellow First Division Grimsby 4-0 at Turf Moor, after drawing 2-2 at Blundell Park. They then went to Second Division Brentford and experienced few problems in dismissing them 0-3.
The Cottagers have won their last four League and Cup games at Loftus Road, against Birmingham and Charlton in the Cup and Middlesbrough and Aston Villa in the Premiership. They last lost at home on 28 December, going down 0-1 to Manchester City in the Premiership.
Burnley have won their last two on the road, are undefeated in five on their travels. The Lancashire last lost away from Turf Moor 4-2 at Gillingham in Division One o 21 December. They have lost only one of their nine League and Cup games home and away.
Fulham are aiming to emulate last season when they reached the semi-final - going out eventually 1-0 to Chelsea at Villa Park.
Fulham have qualified for one FA Cup Final in their history, losing 2-0 to West Ham in 1975, while Burnley have lifted the silverware once, but that was in 1914 after defeating Liverpool 1-0 in the last final to be held at Crystal Palace.
Source: BBC |
Craven Cottage on
Loftus Road
-
FA Cup 16 Feb 03 |
Fulham |
Burnley |
| Games Played |
26 |
30 |
| HOME |
| Games Won |
7 |
7 |
|
Games Drawn
|
2 |
3 |
| Games Lost |
4 |
5 |
| Goals Scored |
16 |
21 |
| Avg goals scored per game |
1.23 |
1.40 |
| Goals Conceded |
11 |
25 |
| Avg goals conceded per game |
0.85 |
1.67 |
| AWAY |
| Games Won |
1 |
4 |
|
Games Drawn
|
4 |
5 |
| Games Lost |
8 |
6 |
| Goals Scored |
12 |
23 |
| Avg goals scored per game |
0.92 |
1.53 |
| Goals Conceded |
23 |
30 |
| Avg goals conceded per game |
1.77 |
2.00 |
| DISCIPLINE |
| Fouls |
374 |
486 |
| Ave Fouls Per Game |
14 |
16 |
| Yellow Cards |
40 |
60 |
| Fouls per yellow |
9 |
8 |
| Red Cards |
5 |
5 |
|
Matchday Referee
Graham Poll - Tring, Hertfordshire
Graham Poll was a mere whipper-snapper when he joined the Premier League list, back in 1993, and even now, at 39, the vastly experienced Poll isn't one of the League's oldest officials.
As a self-employed sales consultant Poll began refereeing in 1980, joining the football league list in 1991 and gaining FIFA approval in 1996. His career highlights include the 1998 Charity Shield and 2000/01's FA Cup final. When the F.A. introduced "professional" referees Poll was a founder member.
Having been made an official FIFA referee, Poll was also in charge of a handful of Euro 2000 matches and officiated between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the Champions League final of the same year.
He was named among the match officials selected by FIFA for this the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.
Fulham related comments
Poll reffed the Fulham v Liverpool game, 23/11/02, which Fulham won 3-2 despite Poll consistently giving decisions against Fulham. Liverpool's first goal came from a free kick given for shirt tugging by Finnan on a Liverpool player uninvolved in an attack that Van der Sar made a save on. Liverpools second goal came from Baros after he poleaxed Rufus in the area and Poll extraordinarily failed to spot the event even though everyone else saw it. To finish off his unhelpful performance Poll sent Goma off in the 70th minute for a second yellow.
2002/2003
Premiership - Fulham 3-2 Liverpool 23-11-2002 3 1
Bookings: Brevett , Goma (sent off 70 for second yellow) (Fulham) Traore (Liverpool)
2001/2002
FA Cup - Fulham 0-1 Chelsea 14-04-2002 4 0
Bookings: Boa Morte , Finnan (Fulham) Ferrer , Gronkjaer (Chelsea)
Premiership - Fulham 0-0 Leeds 02-12-2001 3 0
Bookings: Legwinski (Fulham) Seth Johnson , Smith (Leeds)
Premiership - Fulham 1-1 Chelsea 30-09-2001 5 1
Bookings: Sean Davis (Fulham) Desailly , Gallas , Jokanovic (sent off 81 for second yellow) , Terry (Chelsea)
2001/2002
Not seen by Fulham
2002/
2003
stats
|
Mr. Poll's score sheet |
Average Premiership Referee score sheet |
|
Total |
Match
Avg |
Total |
Match
Avg |
| Games |
16 |
|
11 |
|
| Fouls |
476 |
29.75 |
312 |
27.95 |
| Penalties |
3 |
0.19 |
3 |
0.24 |
| Yellows |
46 |
2.88 |
35 |
3.18 |
| Reds |
2 |
0.13 |
2 |
0.19 |
| Fouls per Yellow |
10.3 |
|
8.8 |
|
Ref Poll is still one of the top whistlers and this season he has dished out nearly 20% more yellows. However he remains one of the more lenient giving out 10% less cards per game than the average
Burnley are not angels with 5 reds and 60 yellows so far. Gareth Taylor, Arthur Gnohere and Tony Grant are the worst with 6 or more yellows however there are another 3 players with 5 cards each. |
|
 CONFIDENT Burnley travel to Loftus Road believing they are capable of causing another cup upset.
The Clarets, buoyed by the win at Coventry, and fresh from a week of preparation in Portugal, take on Fulham feeling there is no reason why they cant earn a quarter-final berth.
The club are in the fifth round for the first time in 20 years when the side went on to lose a replay in the last eight at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday.
And their hopes of matching the class of 1983 are boosted by manager Stan Ternent having a strong hand to select from.
The side will be cheered on by a bumper travelling support, who, as mentioned on page 86, have special plans to make it a day to remember for the Clarets.
Yesterday there were only 400 tickets remaining, and there should be around 3,000 Clarets backing their heroes on their third trip to the capital in four weeks.
Burnley last reached the Quarter-finals twenty years ago. They drew 1-1 at home to Sheffield Wednesday, but lost the replay 5-0.
Burnley may feel that the key to progressing against Jean Tiganas expensively-assembled side is stopping elusive attacking midfielder Steed Malbranque although Ternent will certainly be aware of the threat from other areas of the Cottagers line-up.
Malbranque is the clubs top-scorer with 11, and is expected to play in the hole behind the front two.
Fulham have struggled to find a prolific frontman, but Malbranque has more than chipped in with 11 goals this term.
Capped at every level by France, bar senior level, the talented former Lyon man has ambitions to make the final step up for Les Bleus.
Source: Burnley Express
| MATCH BETTING ODDS |
The Clarets were disappointed to draw Fulham who were seen as neither high profile nor a pushover. Our Bookie and medie friends appear to agree with them as the odds compilers have us a short price favourite and the game is the only Sunday tie not on Sky or BBC. Even Ladbrokes who normally bet against us are offering the shortest price on the high street.
Burnley are not in sparkling form but nor are they struggling having lost just once in their last 6 league games. They have won 4, drawn 5 and lost 6 on their travels. and seem to veer from the sublime to the ridiculous. In their last three games they won 1-0 away at Coventry, lost 5-2 at home to Reading and won 3-0 away at Brentford in the 4th round of the Cup. They also featured in a 6-5 defeat away at Grimsby. So when they can concentrate The Clarets are a potent squad almost scoring for fun.
However the quality in the Fulham squad, seven players called up for Internationals during the week, is obvious for all
and if the squad is up for the game then the odds are a fair indication of the gap between the two squads. The Cottagers have enjoyed the FA Cup in recent times having reached the semis last year and beat Birmingham 3-1 and Charlton 3-0 to reach this years 5th round. It may be harder than it first appears but anything other than a Fulham win is difficult to see
Best High Street price for a Fulham win is 8/15 with SuperSoccer and Stanley while 29/50 is available at the Betfair exchange.
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