Match Preview
Fulham v Everton
Premier League Match Day 25 25/26 at Craven Cottage
Saturday 7th February 2026 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
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Fulham, aiming to move on from their last-gasp defeat against Manchester United in the previous round, return to Premier League action against Everton in Saturday’s gameweek 25 clash.
Defeat at Old Trafford was a second loss in three fixtures for Marco Silva’s men, who now face an Everton side heading to the capital on a four-match unbeaten run in the league.
Few things hurt more than a late defeat, and the disappointment was evident on the faces of the Fulham players after the final whistle against the Red Devils on Sunday.
The Cottagers fought back with goals from Raul Jimenez and Kevin in the 85th and 91st minutes to seemingly avoid defeat for the third time in four visits to the Theatre of Dreams in all competitions; however, a 94th-minute strike from Benjamin Sesko meant the Londoners left Manchester empty-handed.
That late goal inflicted the Cottagers’ second consecutive away defeat, after they had gone four matches unbeaten on their travels, collecting 10 points in that period, and Silva’s team will look forward to returning to their stomping ground this weekend.
That confidence stems from their ongoing four-match unbeaten sequence at Craven Cottage, where they have defeated Nottingham Forest (1-0), Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion (both 2-1), while drawing 2-2 with Liverpool at the start of 2026.
Even if those victories have only been by one-goal margins, they followed three home defeats in five, including back-to-back losses against Manchester City (5-4) and Crystal Palace (2-1), and that upturn in form should please fans at the Cottage, who will be willing their side on to another positive outcome this weekend.
Level on 34 points with the visitors from Merseyside, a positive result would not only take the ninth-placed hosts clear of David Moyes’s team, but could also see them rise to seventh if they claim an eighth league win at Craven Cottage and Brentford and Sunderland — both on 36 points — slip up against Newcastle United and Arsenal, respectively.
While the home supporters have already seen their team equal last season’s win total as hosts, the Cottagers will be wary of facing an Everton side that are incredibly hard to break down away from home.
Moyes’s team have the sixth-best away record in the division, winning five and drawing three while losing four of their 12 fixtures on the road, but one statistic stands out: they have conceded only 11 goals.
That figure is bettered by only one team — league leaders Arsenal, who have let in just nine goals in 12 away matches — highlighting the Toffees’ hard-to-break-down rearguard, which has not been breached in defeat since their 2-0 loss to Chelsea in mid-December.
Three clean sheets have followed that defeat at Stamford Bridge, with Everton’s goalless draw at Burnley and 1-1 stalemate at Brighton sandwiching 2-0 and 1-0 victories over Forest and Aston Villa, respectively.
Now aiming to avoid defeat on their travels for the fifth match running, Moyes’s team — who have scored just 11 goals away from home, more only than Sunderland (six) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (five) — will look to leverage their defensive resoluteness as they seek to complete the double over their London hosts for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
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Fulham won each of their first seven Premier League home games against Everton, and eight of the first nine (L1). Since then, they’ve won just one of their nine against the Toffees at Craven Cottage (D4 L4).
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Following their 2-0 win at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in November, Everton are looking to complete their league double over Fulham since the 2013-14 campaign.
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Of all Premier League fixtures to be played 30+ times, Everton vs Fulham has the highest percentage of home wins (65% - 24 home wins from 37 games). Despite this, the home side has won just one of the last nine meetings between the sides, with Everton winning 2-0 in the reverse fixture this season.
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Fulham have lost three Premier League matches to 90th minute winners this season, their joint-most in a single campaign (also 3 in 2007-08). In total, they have been on the wrong end of 25 winning goals in the 90th minute of games, with only Spurs (29) and Aston Villa (26) conceding more.
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Only the current top-three Premier League sides have more home wins this season than Fulham (7 in 12 games), who have already equalled their total from last season (W7 D5 L7). Only in 2005-06 (68%, won 13/19) do they have a better home win percentage than in 2025-26 (58%).
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Since Christmas, 90% of Fulham’s Premier League goals have come in the second half (9/10) – they have a 2.5% shot conversion in the first 45 minutes (1 goal from 40 shots), compared to 17.3% in the second half (9 from 52).
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Fulham’s Raúl Jiménez has scored six Premier League goals this season – the only player aged 34+ to score more in a season for the Cottagers is Brian McBride in 2006-07 (9). His last four goals have been scored in minutes ending in five (45th, 85th, 55th, 85th), with only Phil Foden scoring five goals in a row in minutes ending in the same number (45th, 45th, 15th, 85th, 25th between November 2022 and May 2023).
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Everton have conceded just 11 goals in 12 away Premier League games this season, with only Arsenal conceding fewer on the road (9). It’s the first time they have conceded fewer than a goal per game away from home since 2008-09 (17 in 19 games).
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Since David Moyes’ first game back in charge of Everton in January last year the Toffees have drawn more Premier League games than anyone else (14), drawing three of their last four (W1). Everton rank sixth for points won since the Scotsman returned (65), winning 17 more points in these 43 games than they did in their previous 43 games before he returned (48).
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ames Garner leads all Everton players for possession won (125), tackles (74) and interceptions (35) in the Premier League this season, while league wide Garner is fourth for possession won, joint-second for tackles and third for interceptions.
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Source Seye Omidiora at SportsMole/BBCSports