Team News
Preston North End vrs Fulham
Championship Match Day 20 2122 at Deepdale
Saturday 27th November 2021 KO: 12:30
Referee:
Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)
Live on SkySports
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If there’s one starting line-up that is going to be very interesting to look at on Saturday afternoon then it will be Fulham’s.
The Cottagers make the long trip up north to Preston North End for a lunchtime kick off and they could have a number of senior players missing through illness.
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s absence was felt heavily on Wednesday evening as they stumbled to a draw against bottom of the table Derby County and he could be missing again against the Lilywhites.
Tom Cairney, Harry Wilson, Harrison Reed, Antonee Robinson and Bobby Decordova-Reid are all affected as well according to Marco Silva.
There are some surprise names in there but it is taking into account that all the players that Silva mentioned as suffering with an illness potentially being missing.
Some played through it on Wednesday but the fact that it was a 0-0 draw may be very telling that things need to be changed if some are not at 100 per cent fitness.
If all six end up being ruled out then there will be some surprise recalls, none more-so than Anthony Knockaert who spent last season on loan at Nottingham Forest.
The Frenchman was in the squad for the first time against the Rams and came on in the 78th minute as the Cottagers searched for a winner.
And if Wilson isn’t fit enough for the clash against PNE then Knockaert is the most likely to come into the equation, with potential recalls for Joe Bryan and Josh Onomah as well.
However on the other end of the spectrum all six players could be well enough to start at Deepdale and Fulham’s team would look a lot different, with Mitrovic, Wilson, Robinson and Reed all almost guaranteed starters.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Tete, Adarabioyo, Ream, Bryan; Seri, Onomah; Kebano; Carvalho, Knockaert, Muniz,
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Not many Preston North End fans expected it, but the Lilywhites ran out 2-1 winners over Middlesbrough in midweek after two successive losses – although quite how they managed it is anyone’s guess.
Chris Wilder’s side were utterly dominant for the most part with PNE stopper Daniel Iversen keeping it down to just one before Ched Evans nodded in an equaliser.
And just a few minutes later a winner was gifted to the away side as Sol Bamba’s attempted clearance fell right at the feet of Emil Riis, who dispatched his 12th goal of the season and sent PNE fans back home very happy.
Frankie McAvoy faces a different kind of test now in the form of table-topping Fulham this weekend – let’s see how he may line-up against Marco Silva’s illness-stricken side.
With the way that North End played for most of Tuesday evening you wouldn’t blame McAvoy if he wanted to make a host of changes, but that would be very unlikely.
And in the predicted line-up there is only one change, with the scorer of the equaliser against Boro in Evans coming in for Sean Maguire.
Evans has been absent since August with an injury to his foot and after weeks of stepping up his recovery on the training pitch, he returned as a second half substitute at the Riverside.
His impact was telling as he roughed up the Boro back-line and then powered home a header to make it 1-1, and after what he showed he almost certainly has to be coming in to partner Emil Riis.
There will be other players chomping at the bit for a start with the likes of Daniel Johnson and Ryan Ledson being on the bench whilst defenders the likes of Greg Cunningham and Scott Sinclair make up a strong bench.
You also have to factor summer signing Matthew Olosunde into the mix now – the American is finally fit to appear after an achilles knock in pre-season and it remains to be seen if he’s in the 18-man squad on Saturday.
He is one player that PNE fans are excited to see bombing down the right flank but the visit of the Cottagers may be too soon for a start.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Van den Berg, Bauer, Hughes; Barkhuizen, McCann, Whiteman, Earl; Browne; Evans, Riis
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Source Ben Wignall at Football League world