Match Preview
Fulham vrs Bournemouth
Premier League Match Day 24 23/24 at Craven Cottage
Saturday 10th February 2024 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Darren England (Barnsley)
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Fulham welcome Bournemouth to their Craven Cottage base on Saturday afternoon with both sides seeking their first Premier League maximum of 2024, .
Marco Silva's men threw away a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw with relegation-threatened Burnley last weekend, while the Cherries were also pegged back in a 1-1 stalemate with Nottingham Forest.
Still without a Premier League victory since the turn of the year, Fulham were only 20 minutes away from clinching their maiden top-flight success of 2024 last weekend, where Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Muniz propelled the Cottagers into a two-goal lead at Turf Moor.
Burnley were seemingly condemned to an all-too familiar home defeat, but an inspired substitution from Vincent Kompany saw Chelsea-owned David Datro Fofana bag a brace in the final 20 minutes, and while he may not have known much about his second goal on the day, it did not diminish the importance of the strike.
Since a slender 1-0 beating of Rotherham United in the FA Cup, Fulham's efforts to pick up another victory have seen Silva's men play out a trio of draws and suffer a trio of defeats, and their 13th-placed position in the rankings could become more precarious without an immediate upturn in fortunes.
Only seven points separate the Cottagers from 18th-placed Everton in the drop zone, although by netting twice against the Clarets last weekend, Fulham matched their goalscoring tally from their previous six league fixtures, where Arsenal were the only team that they did not draw a blank against.
Furthermore, nineteen of Fulham's 26 points in the 2023-24 Premier League season have been won at Craven Cottage, where they have taken 14 from the last 18 on offer, and Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth powers may be waning slightly.
As is the case with their upcoming hosts, Bournemouth have not revelled in a Premier League triumph since the end of 2023, and the Cherries' winless run in the top flight stretched to four games during the visit of Nottingham Forest to the Vitality Stadium last weekend.
Akin to their previous stalemate with West Ham United on February 1, the Cherries drew first blood early doors as Justin Kluivert poked home at the back stick from a corner, but a sublime curler from Callum Hudson-Odoi - who was then the victim of a red card-worthy challenge from Philip Billing - saw the Reds head home with a slice of the spoils.
A nervy final 15 minutes were in store for the home crowd when Billing was given his marching orders, but neither side's performance truly merited a three-point haul, and Bournemouth's previous festive joy has slowly evaporated on account of taking just two points from the last 12 on offer.
From winning six games out of seven between November 11 and Boxing Day, a four-game sequence without a triumph has seen Bournemouth's purple patch well and truly wear off, and the Cherries sit just one place and one point above Fulham in 12th spot, albeit with a match in hand.
Finding the net in 10 of their 11 Premier League away games this season is one confidence-boosting statistic for the Cherries to boast, and the visitors have also come up trumps in both of their last two contests with Fulham, whose most recent win against Bournemouth came in April 2019 thanks to an Aleksandar Mitrovic spot kick.
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Fulham's only victory in the past 13 league meetings was by 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium in April 2019.
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Bournemouth are unbeaten in eight league matches away to the Cottagers (W4, D4) since losing 2-0 in the third tier in April 1992, when Gary Brazil and Sean Farrell both scored.
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Fulham won 5-0 in back-to-back games in early December but have earned just one victory in their subsequent seven league fixtures, failing to score five times.
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They have netted at least twice in each of the last six top-flight games in which they did score, with an overall total of 20 goals.
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Marco Silva is unbeaten in all four of his home league matches as a manager against Bournemouth (W2, D2).
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Armando Broja's only goal in 14 league appearances this season came in Chelsea's 2-0 win at Craven Cottage on 2 October.
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Fulham have won just one of their past seven Premier League games, with both of their past two matches finishing in draws. However, each of their past six league victories have been at home.
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Fulham have failed to score in 10 different Premier League games this season, a league high. However, each of the past six times they have found the net, they have done so at least twice, netting in 20 goals in total across those six games.
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Fulham's Andreas Pereira has taken more corners this season where the first involvement was a shot than any other player (21).
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The Cherries are winless in four league games since beating Fulham 3-0 on Boxing Day (W2, D2).
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They have netted in 10 of their 11 away league matches this season, only failing to score in October's 3-0 loss at Everton.
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Andoni Iraola's team have conceded nine top-flight goals from set-pieces this season (excluding penalties), a figure exceeded by only Burnley and Nottingham Forest.
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Bournemouth have scored seven goals in the opening five minutes of Premier League games since the start of last season, more than any other side.
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Dominic Solanke has scored in each of his last five league appearances against Fulham. The only team he has netted against more often is Huddersfield, with six goals.
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Solanke has 13 Premier League goals this season, a total exceeded by only Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah.
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Source Ben Knapton at SportsMole