Match Preview
Fulham vrs Leicester City
Premier League Match Day 21 2021 at Craven Cottage
Wednesday 3rd February 2021 KO: 18:00
Referee:
Robert Jones (Wirral)
Live on BT Sport 2
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Premier League title contenders Leicester City make the trip to Fulham on Wednesday evening looking to end their two-match winless streak in the top flight.
Meanwhile, Fulham head into the fixture at Craven Cottage now sitting seven points adrift of safety, albeit with a game in hand on 17th-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.
Fulham are without a victory at home since November 2, a period which has now been extended to seven fixtures in all competitions.
Scott Parker will be the first to admit that his side must find a way to turn draws into wins with seven stalemates coming in 10 top-flight games.
While more is expected from Aleksandar Mitrovic in the final third, only the versatile Bobby Decordova-Reid can claim to have regularly made an impact in attacking areas.
Fulham's last success in the Premier League came when they emerged victorious by a 2-1 scoreline in the reverse fixture on November 30.
With Manchester United having dropped points against Arsenal on Saturday, Leicester were able to move into second position in the Premier League table with victory over Leeds United.
However, despite taking the lead at the King Power Stadium, the Foxes were well beaten by opponents who showed more of a ruthless streak in the final third.
Brendan Rodgers will naturally have concerns with the performances of his side when Jamie Vardy is not involved, putting extra pressure on other creative members of the squad.
The club legend is closing in on a return to the first XI, but Rodgers is aware that Leicester will not remain in contention for silverware this season unless the likes of Ayoze Perez and Kelechi Iheanacho begin to take their opportunities in the side.
OLeicester make the trip to West London having put together a five-match unbeaten streak on their travels in the Premier League.
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Fulham's solitary defeat in seven Premier League meetings came at the King Power Stadium in March 2019. That was the second match as manager of their respective clubs for both Brendan Rodgers and Scott Parker.
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Leicester haven't won any of their last five away games against Fulham in all competitions (D2 L3) since a 1-0 win in the second tier in April 1983.
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Fulham's current 10-match winless run is their second longest in the Premier League. They went 12 games without a victory between November 2007 and January 2008.
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Fulham have lost their first three home games in 2021 in all competitions - they have never lost their first four home games in a calendar year as a Football League side.
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The Cottagers' solitary home league win in 11 attempts was 2-0 against West Brom in November (D3, L7).
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They are winless in eight Premier League matches played on a Wednesday since Scott Parker captained them to a 2-1 home victory over West Ham on New Year's Day 2014 (D5, L3).
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Bobby Decordova-Reid has scored seven goals in 22 league and cup appearances in 2020-21. The only season in which he has been more prolific was 2017-18, with 21 goals for Bristol City.
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Scott Parker could be the first Fulham manager since Martin Jol in August 2013 (five in a row) to lose four home games in a row in all competitions - their last two runs of four home defeats have seen two different managers take charge over the spell: March 2014 (Meulensteen & Magath) and March 2019 (Ranieri and Parker).
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Sunday's defeat by Leeds ended Leicester's nine-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
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The Foxes have gone seven away games without defeat in all competitions, their best run for more than five years (W5, D2).
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Only Manchester United have earned more away points in the Premier League this season than Leicester (23), with the Foxes losing just one of their 10 games on the road so far (W7 D2).
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Leicester have earned just one point from their past four league fixtures without Jamie Vardy.
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They have won only six of their 22 league matches without Wilfred Ndidi since he made his club debut in January 2017 (D3, L13).
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James Maddison has been directly involved in 10 goals in his past 11 appearances for Leicester, as many as his previous 43. He has scored six goals and set up four.
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Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers hasn't suffered two defeats against a single newly promoted club in a Premier League season since 2011/12 versus Norwich City, when he himself was in charge of newly promoted Swansea.