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Fulham Attempt To Shock Tottenham

We’ve already seen a series of entertaining games take place in the Premier League this weekend, full of plenty of goals and lots of surprises. Of course, there’s still plenty more to look forward to, with back to back top flight games to enjoy on Sunday. Many fans have commented on how the supposed Super Sunday line-ups don’t feel all too ‘Super’, and yet we can’t help but realise how hypocritical that sounds. After all, the same kind of fans would’ve argued over the fact that not enough clubs outside of the top six were being given a chance to compete in a showcase game on Sky. You can’t please everyone, I guess.

One of the feature games that is set to take place will be between Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur, as the two London rivals square off at Craven Cottage. It’s not exactly a secret to suggest both teams are in need of a win for very different reasons, and in truth, we don’t think that kind of storyline matters all too much. While many will quite clearly favour one over the other, at the end of the day, the Premier League has been known to throw up surprises here, there and everywhere and we’re expecting no different in this one.

The Cottagers will be hoping to pull off what pretty much everyone would consider to be an upset, even though they’re at home. Claudio Ranieri appears to be realising just how tough this challenge is going to be in regards to keeping Fulham in the Premier League, but even so, it’s hard not to be impressed by what he’s already been able to do for the club. Sure, they’re going to struggle to avoid relegation, but there’s way more belief in the club now that they’ll be able to pull it off as opposed to the pre-Ranieri era.

On the other hand you’ve got Tottenham, who have got a lot on their plate over the course of the next few months to say the least. They’re still competing in four different competitions which isn’t something many other clubs can say, and you have to wonder how that’ll impact them moving forward. Mauricio Pochettino knows that there’s a lot of expectation on them to win a piece of silverware of some kind, but many of us have absolutely no idea which competition he’s going to end up prioritising between now and May.

Fulham’s last six game stretch began with a 0-0 draw against Newcastle United, followed up by a 1-1 draw at home against Wolverhampton Wanderers which was cause for optimism amongst many supporters. Then they went on to beat Huddersfield Town, but they were quickly brought crashing back down to earth with a 4-1 loss at the hands of Arsenal. They then had their most humiliating defeat of the season in the FA Cup against Oldham Athletic, before dropping a close 2-1 game to Burnley at Turf Moor in a match that many fans were viewing as a relegation six pointer.

Tottenham, on the other hand, know to make a game entertaining – regardless of which side of the coin they’re on. They began their own six game run with a 5-0 demolition of Bournemouth, but a traditional Spurs mess up was waiting right around the corner. They lost 3-1 to Wolves in a pretty shocking second half display, but they were able to bounce back with a nice 3-0 win over Cardiff. They then tore through Tranmere 7-0 in the FA Cup before beating Chelsea 1-0 in the Carabao Cup, although their narrow 1-0 defeat to Manchester United was viewed as a big missed opportunity.

Many fans won’t be surprised to hear that Tottenham very much lead the way in the overall head to head standings between the two teams, with a 50-18 advantage and 29 draws between them. The first meeting between the two teams took place way back in 1903, and in their last game back in August, Spurs eased to a 3-1 triumph. The expectation is that things won’t be all too different, but upon a quick analysis of the team news for both clubs, you may consider changing your mind and dwelling on the possibility of a classic Premier League upset.

Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s fantastic name can’t make up for the fact that he’s probably going to miss this one, as he faces a late fitness test prior to Sunday. Alfie Mawson has been officially ruled out with a knee issue, but it shouldn’t be too long before we see him back in the famous white shirt. Ryan Babel may or may not feature against Spurs after signing on loan until the end of the season, with some question marks from fans surrounding the possibility of Ranieri sticking with the same starting XI that lost against Burnley. Logically speaking, though, that seems like a bad move.

Tottenham have some serious problems to worry about, and they’re mainly surrounding their attacking options. Harry Kane has been ruled out until March which is the biggest blow imaginable for them at this stage of the campaign, whereas Son Heung-Min is currently away on international duty with South Korea. Moussa Sissoko will miss less time than originally thought but still won’t be fit in time for this one, with Lucas Moura being assessed ahead of kick off with his own knee problem. Christian Eriksen is expected to drop into midfield in order to help out Harry Winks following the sale of Dembele.

Fulham vs Tottenham Betting Prediction

Tottenham will be well aware of the fact that if they drop points here then Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal will all be waiting to bounce in the next few weeks. So then, we think they’re going to take a measured approach to this one, especially given their relative lack of attacking options. We’re expecting to go into the half time interval goalless before both teams come out firing for the second half. Then, with around half an hour remaining, the visitors will be the ones who nudge themselves into the lead.

From that point on they’ll obviously start to feel much more comfortable, and we do think they’ll add a second goal with the midfield really stepping up. Then, Fulham will pull one back, setting up the kind of grandstand finish that we all love to see in the Premier League. We’re expecting Tottenham to hold on from there to register the three points, but Fulham shouldn’t be too disheartened if that’s the way it goes down.

After all the expectation is that they’ll lose and move on to more winnable games in the future, when in reality, the pressure is pretty much off of their shoulders.