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Fulham v Charlton - Match Preview

last updated Friday 04th October 2002, 6:01 PM
Fulham Manager Jean Tigana The one London derby this weekend will see Fulham entertain Charlton Athletic at Loftus Road.

Fulham are currently ninth in the Barclaycard Premiership and, having got off to a good start, now aren't doing so well.

Of their last 6 games, they have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 2, but they are unbeaten at home.

The Cottagers' last league game against Everton was something of a disaster. Having started brilliantly with lots of style and flow, they ended up being totally overpowered by a hardworking Everton side.

The game finished 2-0 to the Toffees and on a sour note - Fulham's frustration got the better of them and the players ended up scrapping.

Irish international Steve Finnan is likely to miss Sunday's game after suffering a recurrence of the knee injury he had recovered from to make his comeback at Everton.

Fulham are also missing Alain Goma in defence and Louis Saha in attack. Fortunately for Fulham the trio are all expected back in action for Fulham's first match after the international break, against Manchester United on October 19th.

 
  Fulham Charlton Div
Avg
Games Played 7 8 8
GOAL ATTEMPTS
Goals 12 7 10
Ave Goals Per Game 1.71 0.88

1.25
Shots (excluding blocked shots) 82 62 73
Ave Shots Per Game 11.7 7.8 10.4
% Shots On Target 43% 42% 43%
% Goals To Shots 15% 11% 12%
PASSING
Short Passes 1982 1773 2055
Long Passes 971 857 971
Total Passes 2953 2630 3026
Ave Passes Per Game 422 329 378
% Overall Pass Completion 74% 66% 73%
CROSSING
Total Crosses 162 146 179
Ave Crosses Per Game 23 18 22
Completion 31% 23% 26%
DEFENDING
Goals Conceded 8 13 10
Ave Goals Conceded Per Game 1.1 1.6 1.3
Tackles 238 217 212
Ave Tackles Per Game 34 27 26
Tackles Won % 74% 69% 72%
Blocks, Clearances & Interceptions 294 340 317
Ave Blocks, etc., Per Game 42 42 40
DISCIPLINE
Fouls 108 103 110
Ave Fouls Per Game 15 13 14
Yellow Cards 14 7 13
Fouls per yellow 7.7 14.7 13
Red Cards 0 1 0
stats from opta
Charlton Manager Charlton meanwhile, are struggling.

They are second from bottom and go into this weekend's game on the back of a Worthington Cup defeat to Third Division Oxford United.

Despite going out on penalties, it was a game the Addicks should have won and the fans showed their discontent by booing the players off the pitch.

They have taken just 7 points from 8 games, and, having lost their last 4 home league games they do have a slightly better away record.

Last week, Charlton started well against Manchester United, and took the lead. They were winning the match for a good ten minutes before conceding 3 second half goals to go down 3-1.

The outcomes of previous meetings between the two sides have been fairly balanced over the years and, of 53 meetings, Fulham have won 16, Charlton have won 19 and they have drawn 18. Source: 4thegame.com

Matchday Referee: Jeff Winter - Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland

Jeff Winter has reffed in the Premiership since 1995/96 and last season he was one of the fourth most forgiving ref's in the Premiership giving out just over 2.5 yellows per game. Unfortunately Mr Winter does like to use his whistle calling for an average of 33 fouls per game, one every 3 minutes, against an average of 23. Mr Winter was also a clear homer giving some 2 of every three yellows to visiting squads

(Ed. When Mr Winter reffed Fulham last season, away at Charlton, away at Liverpool and away at York, he gave more yellows to the opposition teams than to us. John Collins and Steve Marlet were the two hard cases he had reason to caution in the York game.

Although Charlton have committed 103 fouls against our 108 they have been given just 7 yellows against our 14!!

2001/
2002
stats 		Mr. Winter's score sheet Average Premiership Referee score sheet
Total Match
Avg		 Total Match
Avg
Games 20 16
Fouls 638 31.9 472 29.81
Penalties 3 0.15 3 0.19
Yellow cards 51 2.55 49 3.07
Red Cards 2 0.10 3 0.19

MATCH BETTING ODDS
The Bookies are obviously impressed with our home form, we are being quoted at 4/6 to beat Charlton on the weekend, and this is after The Addicks managing 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in their first 4 away games. Presumably the Bookies have noticed that that Charlton's two wins were the first two games of the season. On the other hand last season this fixture ended up 0-0, as did Fulham's most recent home game and Charlton's most recent away game!!

If anyone is keen to back Fulham to win they should take the 4/5 offered by Stanley.

Betting odds Fulham Draw Charlton
Coral 4/6 12/5 7/2
Hills 8/11 11/5 10/3
Ladbrokes 8/11 11/5 10/3
SuperSoccer 4/6 12/5 7/2
Stanley 4/5 9/4 3/1
Source