Match Preview
Fulham v Leicester City
Premier League Match Day 02 24/25 at Craven Cottage,
Saturday 24th August 2024 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Darren Bond (Lancashire)
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Fulham and Leicester are both hoping to get off the mark for 2024-25 at the second attempt when they collide at Craven Cottage in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The Cottagers opened the new campaign with a slender 1-0 loss to Manchester United, while Steve Cooper's crop impressively fought back to hold Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw.
Bestowed with the honour of opening the new Premier League season alongside Man United, Fulham initially looked set to hold out for a creditable point at the Theatre of Dreams last Friday, where Marco Silva's men repelled several futile attacks from Erik ten Hag's team.
However, Fulham also failed to make the most of any openings that arose, and with three minutes of normal time remaining, Man United new boy Joshua Zirkzee met Alejandro Garnacho's delivery with a delicate first-time finish into the far corner.
Only a shocking Garnacho miss right at the death prevented a heavier defeat for Fulham, whose manager Silva could certainly reflect on the pleasing aspects of that one-goal reserve, although pleasing aspects do not equal points for the capital outfit.
Early Craven Cottage success has also been hard for Fulham to come by in recent years, as the hosts have to go back to 2012-13 for the last time that they won their first Premier League home game of a season, losing four of their next five such clashes.
In addition, Silva's men only took one point from the last 12 on offer at Craven Cottage last term, although those three losses came to Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle United, while that lone 1-1 draw came against a high-flying Crystal Palace.
Speaking of two-goal stalemates, Leicester should not have had a hope of springing a turnaround against Tottenham on Monday, where Cooper's men were blown away by their visitors in the first half, but the Lilywhites only had Pedro Porro's goal to show for it.
The elusive second goal just would not come for Tottenham - who were thwarted on several occasions by Foxes goalkeeper Mads Hermansen - and with Ange Postecoglou's defence at sixes and sevens early in the second half, Jamie Vardy - the 37-year-old Big Six tormentor - took full advantage.
However, the Leicester talisman - whom Cooper claimed would miss the opener through injury - then spurned a gilt-edged chance to complete the Leicester fightback, but the Foxes still looked the more likely to score again until Rodrigo Bentancur's severe head injury brought their momentum to a grinding halt.
Nevertheless, Leicester now head to London on the back of winning more away games than any other side in England's top four tiers last season (14), but prior to their top-flight relegation in 2023, they went winless in eight straight matches on rival territory.
Their fifth and most recent loss in that sequence was a 5-3 beatdown at Craven Cottage in May 2023 - where they were 4-0 down inside 51 minutes - which also marked Fulham's third win from their last four matches against their newly-promoted visitors.
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Fulham won both Premier League meetings the last time the sides met in 2022-23.
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Leicester lost 5-3 on their most recent visit to Craven Cottage, with that game producing one more goal than their previous six away league games against Fulham combined.
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Fulham haven’t won their first home match in five Premier League campaigns since a 5-0 win against Norwich City in 2012 (D1, L4).
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They only lost one of their six top-flight games versus promoted opposition last season (W3, D2), a 2-0 home defeat against Burnley in December.
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Andreas Pereira created an unrivalled six chances in the opening round of Premier League fixtures. It’s the 19th time on record a Fulham player has created six or more chances in a Premier League match, with the Brazilian responsible for seven of those.
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Timothy Castagne scored five goals in 91 Premier League appearances for Leicester (2020-23). He joined Fulham after the Foxes were relegated to the Championship.
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Emile Smith Rowe has gone 39 appearances without a goal in all competitions since he scored in Arsenal's 4-2 league win at Chelsea in April 2022.
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No side in the top four English divisions won more away league games last season than Leicester's 14. They won each of their first seven away matches in the Championship.
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However, Leicester have won their opening away fixture in only one of their past seven Premier League seasons, beating West Bromwich Albion 3-0 in 2020.
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Steve Cooper has lost six of his seven meetings with Fulham in all competitions. His solitary victory was by 1-0 at Craven Cottage in April 2022.
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Jamie Vardy, 37, became Leicester’s oldest Premier League goal scorer when he netted against Tottenham last weekend.
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No Premier League player won more duels in the opening round of fixtures than Abdul Fatawu (13), while he also led all Foxes' players for successful dribbles (3), possession won (8) and tackles (6).
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Source Ben Knapton at SportsMole/BBCSports