Fulham have a busy week or so ahead of them.
After dispatching West Brom on Wednesday night, they travel to north London and then up to Burnley for their FA Cup replay, before preparing for another Barclaycard Premiership game with struggling Sunderland.
They will be far from rested after their midweek exploits and the previous weekend's FA Cup action. The Cottagers earned themselves a fifth round replay with First Division side Burnley after a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road.
Against West Brom on Wednesday, Jean Tigana's side smashed three goals in four second-half minutes to secure a 3-0 win and move themselves 12 points clear of the drop zone.
Luis Boa Morte, Sylvain Legwinksi and Zat Knight are expected to be fit for Monday's game after missing Wednesday's clash through injury.
The Cottagers haven't won at White Hart Lane in 18 attempts - a run stretching back as far as 1948. However Fulham beat Tottenham 3-2 earlier in the season and admit that their main priority is climbing further away from the relegation zone.
Leading 2-0 at half time, it seemed that Spurs, who topped the table at the time, were well on course for their fourth straight victory, but goals from Junichi Inamoto and Sylvain Legwinski either side of a Steed Malbranque penalty snatched an unlikely victory for the Loftus Road tenants.
Source: planetfootball/4thegame
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White Hart Lane
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Premiership 24 Feb 03 |
Spurs |
Fulham |
Div
Avg |
| Games Played |
27 |
27 |
27 |
| GOAL ATTEMPTS |
| Goals |
40 |
31 |
34 |
| Ave Goals Per Game |
1.48 |
1.15 |
1.26 |
| Shots (excluding blocked shots) |
292 |
308 |
296 |
| Ave Shots Per Game |
11 |
11 |
11 |
| Ave Shots on Target Per Game |
5 |
5 |
5 |
| % Shots On Target |
44% |
44% |
43% |
| % Goals To Shots |
13% |
10% |
11% |
| PASSING |
| Short Passes |
6826 |
7518 |
6907 |
| Long Passes |
3158 |
3383 |
3226 |
| Total Passes |
9984 |
10898 |
10133 |
| Ave Passes Per Game |
370 |
404 |
375 |
| % Overall Passes Completed |
72% |
71% |
72% |
Ave passes completed
per game
|
266 |
287 |
270 |
| CROSSING |
| Total Crosses |
596 |
598 |
625 |
| Ave Crosses Per Game |
22 |
22 |
23 |
| Crosses Completed |
29% |
26% |
25% |
Ave cross completion
per game
|
6 |
5 |
6 |
| DEFENDING |
| Goals Conceded |
37 |
34 |
34 |
| Ave Goals Conceded Per Game |
1.37 |
1.26 |
1.26 |
| Tackles |
819 |
877 |
757 |
| Ave Tackles Per Game |
30 |
32 |
28 |
| Tackles Won % |
70% |
74% |
72% |
Ave tackles completed
per game
|
21 |
24 |
20 |
| Blocks, Clearances & Interceptions |
1389 |
1118 |
1219 |
| Ave Blocks, etc., Per Game |
51 |
41 |
45 |
| DISCIPLINE |
| Fouls |
364 |
388 |
372 |
| Ave Fouls Per Game |
13 |
14 |
14 |
| Yellow Cards |
43 |
42 |
43 |
| Fouls per yellow |
9 |
9 |
9 |
| Red Cards |
2 |
5 |
3 |
| stats from opta |
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Matchday Referee
Graham Barber - Tring, Hertfordshire.
Personal background
 Graham Barber has survived on the Premiership list since 1996, gaining promotion just two years after making it on to the Football League rota in 1994. The 44-year-old is a sales consultant by trade and lives in the great commuter belt known as Surrey.
He began his career in the London area, taking charge of matches in Kingston before climbing the ladder to the FIFA referee's list in 1998.
Barber has officiated in World Cup qualifiers and various international, not to mention some Champions League and Uefa Cup matches. He is an extremely experienced referee, with European pedigree. He was top of the discipline list during 2001/02, dishing out 78 yellow cards in his 22 matches.
Fulham related comments
Ref Barber has not officiated at a Fulham game so far this season but "looked after us" on 5 occasions last season. Four of the games were fairly bruising, away at Everton and West Ham and then the home and away Cup games with Wycombe. At Everton he sent off just one of their gentleman players, at West Ham he gave a yellow for Bazza's attempt to rearrange Mr. Fox's facial contours following his foul play while against Wycombe he rewarded Vinnicombe with a yellow for breaking Saha's nose. Mr. Barber won't know what to do with himself as Bazza is not available for the Spurs game, Ref Barber booked him three time in the 5 games last season.
2002-2003
Ref Barber has not officiated at a Fulham game so far this season
2001-2002
16-03-2002 English Premier Everton 2-1 Fulham 6 1
Bookings: Gravesen(sent off 28), Moore, Unsworth (Everton) Brevett, Finnan, Hayles (Fulham)
15-01-2002 English FA Cup Fulham 1-0 Wycombe 7 1
Bookings: Brevett, Finnan (Fulham) Brown, Bulman, Cousins (sent off 75 2nd yel), Roberts, Vinnicombe (Wycombe)
Vinnicombe broke Saha's nose with a vicious overhead kick
08-01-2002 English FA Cup Wycombe 2-2 Fulham 2 0
Bookings: Senda (Wycombe) Hayles (Fulham)
03-11-2001 English Premier West Ham 0-2 Fulham 4 0
Bookings: Foxe (West Ham) Boa Morte, Hayles, Melville (Fulham)
Gave Bazza a yellow for a forearm smash on Fox. The F.A. then gave him a 3 game suspension.
10-10-2001 English League Cup Fulham 5-2 Derby 3 0
Bookings: Brevett, Sean Davis (Fulham) Powell (Derby)
2002/
2003
stats
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Mr. Barber's score sheet |
Average Premiership Referee score sheet |
|
Total |
Match
Avg |
Total |
Match
Avg |
| Games |
12 |
|
11 |
|
| Fouls |
339 |
28.25 |
312 |
27.80 |
| Penalties |
1 |
0.08 |
3 |
0.24 |
| Yellows |
34 |
2.83 |
35 |
3.16 |
| Reds |
4 |
0.33 |
2 |
0.20 |
| Fouls per Yellow |
9.97 |
|
8.8 |
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Mr. Barber seems to have undergone a major change in his approach to the game. He is some 15% less per game and issuing over 20% less yellows. That change moves him from 6th quickest yellow carder last year to 14th this year. It is not all good as his red card rate has increased 5 for 22 games last year and 4 for 12 this season
Neil Clement(D), Andy Johnson(M) and Danny Dichio(A) all have 4 yellows and a close to a suspension while Sean Gregan(M) has 7 yellow cards. |
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Tottenham, refreshed from a 16-day break, take on neighbours Fulham at White Hart Lane on Monday evening.
Spurs have been improving lately, after some below average performances over the Christmas period and their humiliating FA Cup exit in January. They taken ten points from their last five league games and at home they have only lost two games all season.
Tottenham's main focus is now to get into Europe, and they appear to be on course to achieve this. Seventh in the league and just one point away from a European place, which is currently occupied by Liverpool who they will meet at White Hart Lane in a couple of weeks.
Spurs' last league match saw them run out 4-1 winners in front of their home fans. Teddy Sheringham scored his 300th league goal, and Gary Doherty scored his first goal in two years to condemn Sunderland to defeat. The victory will have been a massive confidence boost to Glenn Hoddle's men and will no doubt spur them on.
Last season's clash at White Hart Lane saw Spurs cruise to a 4-0 win thanks to goals from Les Ferdinand, Darren Anderton, Simon Davies and Sergei Rebrov.
The enforced break may lead to a bit of rustiness in Tottenham legs but it also gives boss Glenn Hoddle the chance to give some players a rest and get others back to fitness. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller is certainly a fan of the mini-break, stating:
"It is a good time of the year to have a little break, especially after the craziness of the Christmas period. You feel like you're getting back into a bit of a pattern after a break where a few other teams are playing a ton of games. We had that last year with the two cups, running all over the place. It really is hard to stay consistent when you are that tired."
Source: planetfootball/4thegame
| MATCH BETTING ODDS |
Fulham make the trip to White Hart Lane on Monday for, if history is anything to go by, a good thrashing. The West London Whites have won once and drawn 4 times in the 19 visits during the last 50 years.
Tottenham have lost at home just twice this season, against Newcastle 3 weeks ago and Boro back in September. Of their 13 home games they have managed just 3 clean sheets. To put that in perspective Fulham have managed the same number of lockouts in their 13 away games and Fulham have the second worst away record in the Premiership.
On the stats then the points should go
to Spurs in a game even though they may ship at least one goal.
Team selection may have a bearing on the result in as much as Spurs have strikers Keane and Iversen out
and Fulham have defenders Goma and Melville out. The Cottagers also have the small matter of a 5th round FA Cup replay on Wednesday.
Best High Street price for a Fulham win is 4/5 with Stanley while 81/100 is available at the Betfair exchange.
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Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!!!!
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