Fulham play host to Birmingham City on Tuesday evening with the opportunity to move five points clear at the top of the Championship standings.
Meanwhile, Blues are winless in their last five league games, leaving Lee Bowyer's side nine points above the relegation zone.
Match preview
© Reuters
At times this season, Fulham have frustrated their supporters, putting together two spells of disappointing results which have undermined their overall brilliance.
However, Marco Silva's side now seem back to their best, the Cottagers remarkably scoring 13 times during victories over Reading and Bristol City.
While neither of their recent opponents are the best that the Championship has to offer, Fulham were ruthless on both occasions with the goals being shared among their talented forward line.
Aleksandar Mitrovic now has 27 goals and seven assists in the second tier, a monumental effort from the Serbian, while Harry Wilson is now up to eight strikes and 10 assists.
Nevertheless, still only sitting two points above Bournemouth, Silva knows that the hard work will continue, albeit against opponents who they have already defeated twice this season.
© Reuters
The clubs squared off twice during the early weeks of the campaign, Fulham following a 2-0 win at St Andrew's in the EFL Cup with a 4-1 triumph at the same ground in the league.
Now sitting down in 18th position, consolidation is now very much the priority for Bowyer and his Blues squad, who have just one win to their name in their last 10 in all competitions.
On the back of losing to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup, a 1-1 draw at improving Preston North End on Saturday was a much-needed step in the right direction.
Top goalscorer Scott Hogan netted his first goal in over two months at Deepdale, taking his tally to the campaign to seven from 22 games.
- D
- D
- D
- L
- W
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
- L
- L
- D
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Barring any injury or coronavirus issues, Silva is unlikely to make any changes to his rampaging Fulham side.
Although the Cottagers conceded two goals against Bristol City, the likes of Denis Odoi and Michael Hector are expected to remain on the substitutes' bench.
Hogan should be recalled to the Birmingham attack, potentially in place of Lukas Jutkiewicz with recent loan arrival Onel Hernandez adding better movement in the final third.
George Friend is available after suspension and should return to the back three, allowing Kristian Pedersen to move into the left wing-back role.
Ryan Woods may also get the nod in central midfield with Ivan Sunjic seemingly most likely to drop down to the substitutes' bench.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Tete, Adarabioyo, Ream, Robinson; Cairney, Reed; Wilson, Carvalho, Kebano; Mitrovic
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Etheridge; Mengi, Roberts, Friend; Colin, Gardner, James, Sunjic, Pedersen; Hogan, Hernandez
We say: Fulham 3-0 Birmingham City
While there have been plenty of surprises in the Championship this season, we do not anticipate one in this game. The Cottagers have rediscovered their best form in the final third and with Blues offering little in that department, it could be one-way traffic at Craven Cottage.
Top tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Fulham win with a probability of 72.93%. A draw had a probability of 18.1% and a win for Birmingham City had a probability of 8.98%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fulham win was 2-0 with a probability of 15.09%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (14.34%) and 3-0 (10.58%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.34%), while for a Birmingham City win it was 0-1 (3.96%). The actual scoreline of 6-2 was predicted with a 0.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Fulham would win this match.
