Fulham and West Bromwich Albion square off at Craven Cottage on Saturday with both clubs looking to close the gap on Championship leaders Bournemouth.

These two teams have prevailed in four of their last six league outings, creating distance between themselves and fourth position.

Match preview

Aleksandar Mitrovic celebrates scoring for Fulham against Bristol City on September 25, 2021 © Reuters

While the September international break came at the wrong time for Fulham, there can be no arguments that October's equivalent proved decisive in Marco Silva's men getting back on track.

Maximum points and 10 goals from fixtures against Queens Park Rangers, Cardiff City and Nottingham Forest have moved the West Londoners back into second spot.

Aleksandar Mitrovic has continued his remarkable scoring streak, netting half of those goals to take his tally for the season to 15 strikes from just 14 appearances.

Nevertheless, Silva will likely be more satisfied with just one goal being conceded, a much-needed improvement on shipping nine times in their previous five fixtures.

Should they be able to keep things tight at the back and Mitrovic out of the treatment room, Fulham have the quality to close the five-point gap to the Cherries.

West Bromwich Albion's manager Valerien Ismael after the match on October 15, 2021 © Reuters

That said, momentum can quickly be lost on Saturday afternoon with the Baggies travelling to the capital with a point to prove after successive away defeats.

Remaining unbeaten at The Hawthorns will keep West Brom in the mix, but they need to improve away from the West Midlands if they are to last the pace in the second tier.

Valerien Ismael remains heavily reliant on Karlan Grant, the forward having now contributed six goals from his last six outings at this level.

While there will be relief that Jordan Hugill finally ended his drought against Bristol City, Grant may have to take on full responsibility on Saturday if West Brom are to trouble their hosts.

Fulham Championship form:

West Bromwich Albion Championship form:

Team News

Fulham manager Marco Silva applauds fans after the match on September 11, 2021 © Reuters

After Fulham produced a clinical display at Forest, Silva may opt against making any changes to his starting lineup.

Harrison Reed is an option in midfield if the Portuguese decides on a more defensive-minded central two, while Fabio Carvalho will continue to be assessed in his recovery from coronavirus.

West Brom will be able to call upon Jake Livermore after the midfielder served a one-match ban for five yellow cards last time out.

He is expected to replace either Robert Snodgrass or Jayson Molumby in central midfield, but Alex Mowatt remains sidelined through injury.

Hugill should get the nod over Callum Robinson after getting on the scoresheet last week.

Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Odoi, Adarabioyo, Ream, Robinson; Seri, Cairney; Wilson, Decordova-Reid, Kebano; Mitrovic

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ajayi, Bartley, Clarke; Furlong, Livermore, Molumby, Townsend; Phillips, Hugill, Grant

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We say: Fulham 2-1 West Bromwich Albion

Despite the narrow margin between these clubs in the standings, we can only back one winner in West London. While the Baggies may make it difficult for the Cottagers for the opening hour, Fulham's extra firepower should make the difference at some stage in the contest.

Top tip

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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 46.28%. A draw had a probability of 27.1% and a win for West Bromwich Albion had a probability of 26.6%.

The most likely scoreline for a Fulham win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.95%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9%) and 2-1 (8.85%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.73%), while for a West Bromwich Albion win it was 0-1 (9.17%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 4.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Fulham would win this match.