Match Preview
Tottenham Hotspur vrs Fulham
Premier League Match Day 16 2021 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Wednesday 13th January 2021 KO: 20:15
Referee:
Paul Tierney (Lancashire)
Live on Amazon Prime Video
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Fulham face London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a rescheduled fixture on Wednesday evening, aiming to keep their positive momentum going.
Spurs' clash with Aston Villa on the same day was called off due to a coronavirus outbreak in their opponents' camp, but Fulham have been lined up at short notice to play a game that was originally intended to take place two weeks ago.
In what is perhaps a sign of things to come in the second half of the season, the Premier League acted swiftly to avoid an increase in outstanding fixtures.
Fulham were victorious in their FA Cup third-round tie, albeit after being pushed all the way by West London rivals Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
The contest finished goalless in normal time, but substitutes Bobby Decordova-Reid and Neeskens Kebano netted in extra time to seal a place in the next round.
Scott Parker's men are now unbeaten in five in all competitions, although the other four games in that sequence finished in draws, the most recent being a stalemate with Southampton.
That leaves Fulham in the relegation zone, but they have two games in hand to play on Brighton and Hove Albion directly above them and a three-point margin to gap.
Having made his side far tougher to beat over the past month, the next step for Parker is to start putting some victories on the board.
It may be far from ideal preparation for both managers, but Jose Mourinho will be grateful that his side at least have a game to play and a chance to make it four wins in a row.
Spurs have won their last three without conceding in three different competitions, a run that has seen them reach the final of the EFL Cup, the fourth round of the FA Cup and climb up to fourth in the Premier League.
All focus now is on the top flight, with Tottenham still very much in title contention thanks to a return of 29 points from 16 matches.
That is largely thanks to teams around them also dropping points, having gone four without a league victory prior to the 3-0 win over Leeds United last time out in the competition.
They followed that up with cup wins over Brentford and Marine - Carlos Vinicius scoring a hat-trick in the second of those games in what was a straightforward 5-0 victory against the eighth-tier side.
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Tottenham have won 10 of the last 11 Premier League games against Fulham.
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Since a 2-1 home win in November 2008, Fulham haven't scored more than once in any of their last 13 Premier League meetings with Tottenham (W1 D2 L10), netting seven goals in total in this run.
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The Cottagers have won only three of their 36 away league fixtures against Spurs.
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Fulham have drawn each of their last four Premier League games, as many draws as they'd had in their previous 43 top-flight matches. The Cottagers last had a longer run of consecutive league draws between December 2006-January 2007 (6).
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They could go five Premier League fixtures unbeaten for the first time since 2013.
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Fulham have lost their last 13 Premier League London derbies, an all-time record in the top-flight. The Cottagers also have the lowest win rate in such fixtures in the Premier League (19% - won 25/131
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They have only won 25 of their 131 Premier League London derbies.
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They have earned four points from their last three away league games, as many as their previous 13 away matches in the competition.
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Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored in three of his four Premier League appearances against Spurs.
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Spurs have dropped a league-high nine points due to goals conceded in the last 10 minutes of matches.
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Tottenham are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League London derbies (W3 D4) since losing 1-2 at Chelsea in February.
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Tottenham's Harry Kane is the second highest goalscorer in London derbies in Premier League history (35), with only Thierry Henry netting more (43).
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Only four of Spurs' Premier League goals this season have not involved Harry Kane or Son Heung-min.