Match Preview
Fulham v Newcastle United
Premiership Match Day 32 23/24 at Craven Copttage
Saturday 6th April 2024 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Sam Allison (Wiltshire)
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Both bidding to make an immediate return to winning ways, Fulham and Newcastle United do battle in Saturday's Premier League encounter at Craven Cottage.
The Cottagers were second best all evening in a 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, while the Magpies were pegged back in a frustrating 1-1 draw at home to Everton.
A magical Rodrigo Muniz moment rescued Fulham during the weekend's six-goal spectacular with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, but with the Cottagers' scintillating South American nullified at the City Ground, Fulham's luck on the road quickly ran out in midweek.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Chris Wood both found the net before Marco Silva brutally axed three of his players just after the half-hour mark, and the Portuguese's brash decision was to no avail as Morgan Gibbs-White increased the Tricky Trees' advantage just before the break.
Tosin Adarabioyo's header may have reduced the arrears early in the second half, but unlike at Sheffield United, there was to be no miraculous turnaround from the Cottagers, who are simply ambling to the Premier League finish line with nothing major at stake in the closing period of the season.
Thirteenth in the table with a 17-point advantage over the relegation zone, Fulham do only have a six-point deficit to make up to West Ham United in the Europa Conference League spot and now return to a ground where 28 of their 39 points have been accrued this term.
Six of those have come in their last two home fixtures - a pair of 3-0 beatings of Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion - and seven of Fulham's home triumphs this season have seen the Cottagers score at least three times; they have never recorded at least eight home wins with three goals in a single season during the Premier League era.
Possessing their own affinity for goal-laden performances on home soil - as evidenced by their extraordinary 4-3 come-from-behind triumph over West Ham United on the Easter weekend - Newcastle were on course for another emphatic St James' Park success against Everton, thanks to Alexander Isak's 15th of the season on the 15-minute mark.
However, a moment of madness from Paul Dummett in the closing stages offered Dominic Calvert-Lewin the chance to end his goal drought from the spot - which he did, despite the best efforts of Martin Dubravka - to rescue a draw for Everton and leave Newcastle deflated.
Nevertheless, a fifth home game in a row without defeat leaves Newcastle's European destiny in their own hands, as while Eddie Howe's men reside in eighth place in the table, they are only one point worse off than West Ham, who have played a game more.
The Magpies' dire away form continues to hinder their continental dreams, though, as seven of the visitors' last nine road matches have ended in defeat, and Howe's men have gone 11 games without a Premier League clean sheet on their travels since putting eight past Sheffield United without reply.
Furthermore, each of Newcastle's last three away games versus sides from the English capital has ended in defeat, but they have had Fulham's number over the past few years with five successive triumphs over the Cottagers, including a 2-0 FA Cup success at Craven Cottage at the end of January.
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Fulham have won one of the last 10 meetings and failed to score in seven of those (D2, L7).
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Newcastle have won their last four Premier League games against Fulham – only against Tottenham, Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland have they won more consecutively in the competition.
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Newcastle defender Dan Burn has scored twice against his former club this season, having found the net in both the league and FA Cup games.
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Fulham have won nine of their 15 Premier League home games so far this season, their most in a single top-flight campaign since winning 10 in 2011-12. They’ve scored 3+ goals in seven of these victories, last scoring 3+ in more different top-flight home games in 1966-67.
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Across Fulham’s last 20 Premier League matches, there have been 71 goals scored at an average of 3.6 per game. Indeed, since a 0-0 draw with Everton in January, there have been at least three goals scored in each of the Cottagers’ last nine games.
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Rodrigo Muniz has scored in his last four Premier League home games, netting six goals in total in this run. It’s the longest scoring streak a Fulham player has had at home in the competition’s history.
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Marco Silva has won only one of his seven matches as a manager against Newcastle in all competitions, losing each of the past five.
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Having been unbeaten in all seven of their Premier League away games against London sides last season, Newcastle are winless in all four so far this term. They’ve lost their last three in a row, last losing more consecutively in the capital between January-April 2019.
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The Magpies' 3-0 win against Wolves is their only clean sheet in 11 league and cup games.
Newcastle have lost nine of their 14 Premier League away games this season, three times as many defeats as they suffered in the whole of last term.
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Eddie Howe's side are yet to be involved in a goalless draw in the league this season.
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Newcastle's 30 league games this season have featured 116 goals (64 scored and 52 conceded), the highest by any team at this point of a season since 2014.
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Aleksander Isak has scored five goals in his last seven Premier League appearances in London for Newcastle and is averaging a goal every 105 minutes in the capital, the best ratio of any Magpies player to play 200+ minutes for the club in London.
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Source Ben Knapton at SportsMole/BBCSports