Match Preview
Fulham vrs AFC Bournemouth
Premier League Match Day 08 at Craven Cottage
Saturday 1st October 2022 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Darren England (Barnsley)
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Oliver Thomas
Last season's top two in the Championship will face off in the Premier League on Saturday as Fulham play host to Bournemouth at Craven Cottage.
Both sides have made respectable starts to life back in the top flight and they currently sit inside the top half of the table, with the Cherries in eighth and the Cottagers just one point behind in ninth.
Marco Silva's Fulham side have suffered a dip in form over the last few weeks, with a heavy 4-1 defeat at home to Newcastle United followed by a 3-1 loss away at West Ham United last weekend.
In the absence of injured star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, Andreas Pereira fired Fulham into an early lead at the London Stadium, but the Hammers turned the game on its head with a Jarrod Bowen penalty followed by strikes from Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio, condemning the Cottagers to their fourth defeat in their last six league games.
Silva will be keen to see improvements made in defence as they have kept only one clean sheet in nine league games so far this season, drawing 0-0 with goal-shy Wolverhampton Wanderers in August. Only Saturday's opponents Bournemouth (20) and the bottom two sides Nottingham Forest (22) and Leicester City (24) have conceded more goals than Fulham (18) so far this season.
Fulham now face four favourable-looking fixtures, on paper, with a home clash against the Cherries followed by encounters against Aston Villa, Leeds United and Everton, so they will be hopeful of turning their fortunes around in the coming weeks.
However, the West Londoners have struggled in recent years against Bournemouth as they have won only one of their last 10 league meetings against them, a 1-0 away victory in April 2019.
Since the departure of head coach Scott Parker following their humbling 9-0 defeat at Liverpool, Bournemouth have put together a five-game unbeaten run under interim boss Gary O'Neil and they claimed their third win of the season at home against Leicester City last weekend.
After Patson Daka fired the visitors into an early lead, the Cherries came from behind to claim maximum points in their 100th Premier League home game courtesy of two strikes within the space of three second-half minutes from Philip Billing and Ryan Christie.
Bournemouth have now climbed up to eighth in the Premier League standings, six points clear of the relegation zone and just four behind the Champions League places, albeit at such an early stage of the campaign.
With back-to-back fixtures against Fulham and Southampton up next, O'Neil's buoyant bunch will fancy their chances of continuing their fine run of form as they bid to alleviate fears of a potential relegation scrap this season.
The away side have won each of the last five Premier League meetings between Bournemouth and Fulham, which bodes well for the Cherries this weekend, but they head to Craven Cottage after losing seven of their last eight top-flight games in London.
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Fulham's solitary victory in the past 10 league meetings was 1-0 away in the top flight in April 2019.
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Bournemouth are on a seven-match unbeaten run away to Fulham since a 2-0 defeat in April 1992 (W4, D3).
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The Cottagers have lost consecutive league games for the first time this season.
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They have gone seven top-flight matches without a clean sheet, conceding 16 goals, since a 0-0 draw with Wolves.
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Fulham have amassed seven points and eight goals from their four Premier League home fixtures this season. They only managed 10 points and nine goals in the entirety of their most recent Premier League campaign in 2020-21.
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Harry Wilson scored seven goals in 31 Premier League games for Bournemouth during a loan spell from Liverpool in 2019-20.
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Issa Diop is one short of 100 Premier League appearances.
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Bournemouth are unbeaten in their five league games since Scott Parker was sacked, conceding just four goals (W2, D3).
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They have twice won a Premier League match this season after conceding the opening goal; no side can better that record.
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However, Bournemouth remain without a first-half goal since Jefferson Lerma's second-minute strike against Aston Villa on the opening day of the season.
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The Cherries have had the fewest shots (61) and shots on target (20) in the Premier League this season.
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This is Bournemouth's 200th Premier League fixture.
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They have lost seven of their past eight top-flight games in London, with the exception being a 1-0 win at Chelsea in December 2019.
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