Fulham's drawing habit starting to bite them back
Friday night sees Fulham take a wobbling Wolverhampton Wanderers in a bid to at least temporarily take themselves out of the Premier League relegation zone. Cottagers boss Scott Parker has done commendably well in at least making the London outfit competitive in the top tier after a shocking opening to the 2020/2021 season. They now sit three points below Newcastle United, albeit with a slightly better goal difference. The visitors to Craven Cottage probably already have nothing to play for during the run-in, and the long-term absence of striker Raúl Jiménez has hit Nuno Espirito Santo's men extremely hard. That said, the hosts are in the habit of conspiring to draw matches, and that will do them little good at this stage. Read our preview here:
Mitro's on fire
Powerhouse striker Aleksandar Mitrović was recalled to the starting XI after a long fallow period for his club side; the all-time Serbian national top scorer crashed in five during the break for World Cup qualifying, hitting winners in two of the group games and levelling things against European champions Portugal. Though Fulham were well beaten at Aston Villa, he again found the net, and his rediscovered potency will be crucial to their survival hopes. His hold-up play when high on confidence should also spur on the likes of Bobby Decordova-Reid, Josh Maja, and Ademola Lookman to find more space in behind and around the opposition defence. Having the ball not come back so quickly should give the midfield more time to reorganise and reposition themselves, which can only be aided by the lack of threat offered by Wolves in central areas.
Plenty of value with Neto
The root of the woes for the old gold side have been obvious for everyone to see almost all year long, and this has been self-evident in the last tranche of matches. It is true that they mounted a stirring comeback at home to West Ham United, but the game was already out of sight by that juncture. Overall, the back four or five have been quite solid throughout, but they must make sure that shipping three is a rarity to avoid being very late entrants to the basement scrap. Plenty of praise has been heaped on Pedro Neto as he continues to impress from wherever he's deployed in support of sole striker Fábio Silva. From long range, they are a force to be reckoned with, but rarely have the means to penetrate deeply enough to consistently worry their adversaries.
The Santo clause
Wolves' rise back into the top tier was not cheap, and no shortage of transfer funds have been invested in the playing squad. On paper, they're one of the best outside of the new big six (and Leicester City), but that injury to Jiménez has exposed them in ways few would've anticipated. Nuno's stock is still high, but he must be wary about avoiding an extremely poor end to a season like no other. Fulham are capable of upsetting them, but a draw looks likelier - Betfair are offering odds of 3.10 for that outcome.
