Fulham
Jean Tigana will be missing two of his midfielders for the game at Ipswich.
Lee Clark was scheduled to make a comeback in the game at Ipswich
on Wednesday. But his injury, sustained against Charlton on Boxing Day,
has not healed as well as hoped and he is likely to be
out
until mid-February.
Sean Davis has had surgery after breaking his nose in a reserve game and
will be out for another 10 days.
On the striker front Luis Boa Morte (ankle) is out but should return on
Saturday, Louis Saha is recovered from his broken nose and may be in the
squad while Bazza Hayles is back after a one match suspension.
Fulham (from):
Edwin van der Sar(G),
Steve Finnan(D), Andy Melville(D), Alain Goma(D), Rufus Brevett(D),
Sylvain Legwinski(M), Zak Knight(D/M), John Collins(M), Steed Malbranque(A/M),
Bazza Hayles(A), Steve Marlet(A),
Maik Taylor(G), Abdeslam Ouaddou(D), Bjarne Goldbaek(M), Louis Saha(A),
Andrejs Stolcers(A).
Ipswich
George Burley hopes to welcome back Chris Makin (flu) and Mark Venus
(knee), for the visit of Fulham, while Jermaine Wright (groin) is a doubt.
Makin and Venus missed the FA Cup mauling at the hands of Manchester City,
but have been named in a squad of 21 for Wednesday's game against The Cottagers.
Midfielder Wright is also included in the squad and will face a late
fitness test to see if he can participate against the side who he netted
his only goal this term against in October's 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.
Still absent are Jim Magilton, who has a hamstring injury, ankle victim
Thomas Gaardsoe and goalkeeper Keith Branagan, who has a shoulder problem,
but Tommy Miller is included despite doing little training of late due
to a back niggle.
Makin and Venus should return at the expense of the men who replaced
them on Sunday - Fabian Wilnis and Titus Bramble - while any other changes
will depend on Wright's fitness.
If he misses out, Town are likely to switch Martijn Reuser to the right
wing and use either Jamie Clapham or Ulrich Le Pen on the left. If they
opt for the latter it would be a first league start for the Frenchman,
who has only two brief substitute appearances for the club so far.
Ipswich
Matteo Sereni(G), Andy Marshal(G),
Chris Makin(D), Hermann Hreidarsson(D), Jamie Clapham(D), Mark Venus(D),
John McGreal(D), Titus Bramble(D),
Matt Holland(M), Tommy Miller(M), Jermaine Wright(M/A), Sixto Peralta(M/A),
Ulrich Le Pen(M),Fabian Wilnis(M),
Martijn Reuser(A), Marcus Stewart(A), Marcus Bent(A), Alun Armstrong(A),
Topmen
On a man for man basis once again Fulham shapes up better than the opposition
and if the squad can get all the separate bits together this should be another
away victory for the Bianconeri.
A key area of concern between the two squads is that the Tractor Boys are
keen crossers with, according to Opta, 40% more crosses than Fulham. If
they continue that on Wednesday evening it should be an exciting evening
for Andy and Alain. Mind you with Zak possibly included in the midfield
defensive role it would give us a dominating presence in the centre of the
park.
Ipswich are not known as a dirty team, far from it, however they have 5
players with four yellow cards and therefore all are one card off a suspension
so they might tread a little than usual.
Their main players, based on Opta stats, are Matt Holland their top passer
and keen to tackle and shoot at goal, Hermann Hreidarsson is very busy in
defence, their top blocker, interceptor and foul winner and Marcus Stewart
who is their most accurate shooter and just second to Marcus Bent for number
of offsides.
| League
stats |
Ipswich |
Fulham |
| Goal
Scorers |
Marcus Bent (5)
Finidi George(5)
Marcus Stewart (5)
Alun Armstrong(4) |
Bazza Hayles (6)
Steed Malbranque(5)
Louis Saha (5)
Sylvain Legwinski(3) |
| Shots
on Target |
Finidi
George (16)
Matt Holland (12)
Marcus Stewart( 12) |
Louis
Saha (18)
Bazza Hayles (15)
Sylvain Legwinski(12)
Steed Malbranque(12) |
| Successful
passes |
Matt
Holland (778)
Jermaine Wright (745)
Chris Makin (735) |
Steve Finnan (927)
John Collins (904)
Rufus Brevett(858)
Steed Malbranque(663) |
| Successful
Tackles |
Chris
Makin (53)
Matt Holland (50)
Hermann Hreidarsson(43)
|
John Collins (74)
Sylvain Legwinski(50)
Steve Finnan (50)
Luis Boa Morte (47) |
| Fouls
won |
Hermann
Hreidarsson(47)
Jamie Clapham (46)
Alun Armstrong(32) |
Louis Saha (66)
Steed Malbranque(46)
Luis Boa Morte (45)
Bazza Hayles (42)
|
| Fouls
conceded |
Jamie Clapham (43)
Hermann Hreidarsson(37)
Titus Bramble(27)
Matt Holland (27) |
Barry
Hayles (63)
Luis Boa Morte (37)
Sylvain Legwinski(36)
|
Yellow
Cards
(all comp's) |
Hermann Hreidarsson(4)
Chris Makin(4)
John McGreal(4)
Richard Naylor (4)
Jermaine Wright (4) |
Barry Hayles (6)
Luis Boa Morte (5)
Rufus Brevett(5)
Sean Davis (5)
Sylvain Legwinski(4) |
| Red
Cards |
Matteo Sereni (1) |
Luis Boa Morte (1) |
| stats
from opta.co.uk |