Match Preview
Huddersfield Town v Fulham
Premier League Match Day 11 at John Smith's Stadium
Monday 5th November 2018 KO: 20:00
Referee:
Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
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Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic does not believe the clash with fellow strugglers Huddersfield, on Monday Night Football, will define his side's hopes for the rest of the campaign.
"It's a really important game for us, it's a really important game for Huddersfield too," he said. "It's an early six-pointer at the beginning of November. After the game, it's not going to be done for either team.
"There are some teams who are a few points in front of us and we are fighting to be competitive and to catch them and to put them under some kind of pressure. I don't believe we are going to be safe in November or December or January; at the same time I don't believe anybody will win the Premier League in this time either."
David Wagner will hope to lead Huddersfield to their first Premier League win of the season.
Wagner's men are bottom of the Premier League having failed to win any of their first 10 games this season.
They host a Fulham outfit who are two places above them with two more points, and who have lost each of their last four league matches, plus Thursday's Carabao Cup tie at Manchester City.
And Wagner, who expects a fervent atmosphere inside the stadium on Monday, wants a reaction from his players against the Cottagers.
"We need to defend better than we did against Watford and attack like we have done in the past," he said. "I've told my players to show a reaction on Monday.
"For us, it's important that we are at our best. If we are on our best, we have the chance to be successful. At home, with our supporters, we have to have an atmosphere that this game deserves; it's an important game."
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This will be the first top-flight meeting between Huddersfield and Fulham since April 1952 - with Fulham winning 1-0 at Craven Cottage.
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Fulham are unbeaten in their last 11 league meetings with Huddersfield (W7 D4), beating them by an aggregate score of 9-1 in their last such meetings in the 2016-17 Championship.
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The Cottagers beat the Terriers by an aggregate score of 9-1 in their two matches in the Championship in the 2016-17 season.
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Fulham are one short of 300 top flight victories.
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Fulham have lost their last six Premier League games in Yorkshire, since beating Leeds 1-0 thanks to a Steed Malbranque goal in April 2002.
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No team has ever conceded more goals in their opening 10 Premier League games of a season than Fulham have this season (28) - Barnsley in 1997-98 and Southampton in 2012-13 also conceded 28 goals in their first 10 games.
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Fulham have conceded at least three goals in each of their last four Premier League games - only one team has done so in five consecutive matches, with Sunderland doing so in November 2005.
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Fulham have scored in 80% of their last 20 away games.
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Huddersfield could become only the second team in English Football League history to fail to score in their first six home games of a season, after Mansfield who failed to score in their first nine in the third tier in 1971-72. They have failed to score in their last seven home top-flight matches - only one team in the history of the top-flight has failed to score in eight in a row (Man City between January and May 2007).
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Huddersfield have lost both of their Premier League matches played on Monday, losing away games to West Ham and Leicester last season; they haven't played at home on a Monday in the top-flight since drawing 0-0 with Leeds in April 1971.
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Huddersfield have scored in 45% of their last 20 home games.
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Only three teams have had a winless run of at least 11 matches from the beginning of a Premier League season and gone on to avoid relegation - Derby County (13 in 2000-01), Everton (12 in 1994-95) and Blackburn Rovers (11 in 1996-97).
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Since they scored against Watford in April, Huddersfield have had 76 shots in home Premier League games without scoring.