Up next: Nottingham Forest (a)
Today at 05:20 AM
Consistency has been a problem for Fulham this term. They have turned in largely encouraging displays but lack the points to go with them. For much of the campaign, their poor finishing has let them down but lapses in concentration late on have also proven costly at Old Trafford and against West Ham United at Craven Cottage. Marco Silva’s side were superb in ending Newcastle United’s unbeaten start to the season last weekend, but the Portuguese head coach now wants his side to replicate that level of performance against another unbeaten outfit, Nottingham Forest, at the City Ground this afternoon. It certainly won’t be easy.
Fulham’s last visit to the banks of the River Trent was a horror show from which those unfortunate enough to have attended are probably still recovering. The Whites, fresh from a compelling comeback at Bramall Lane, were fortunate to be only 3-0 down at the interval after an appalling defensive display. Silva felt it necessary to make a treble substitution thirty three minutes in after watching his side be pulled apart from the outset. Their chief tormentor that night, the eminently watchable Morgan Gibbs-White, will be missing today after being sent off in Forest’s action-packed 2-2 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, but as Silva pointed out earlier this week, Nuno Espirito Santo will have plenty of talent to pick from in a squad that has shone so far this season.
Most of the footballing world felt that Steve Cooper’s departure last term was harsh after the Welshman’s achievements in getting Forest back to the big time, but there can be no doubt that the club have kicked on impressively under Nuno. Forest have won two and drawn three of their league matches this term and are one of four sides to be unbeaten this year. They stunned Liverpool at Anfield earlier this month thanks to a winner from former Fulham target Callum Hudson-Odoi – and boast a squad packed full of top-flight experience as well as potential thanks to another busy summer. They swooped for James Ward-Prowse when it became clear that the classy playmaker wasn’t likely to be part of Julen Lopetegui’s plans at West Ham and evergreen New Zealand forward Chris Wood is once again in a red hot run of form.
As well as Gibbs White, Nuno will likely be without the services of Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare but Nuno could be able to call upon Willy Boly, who has made good progress in recovering from a calf injury. Forest’s defensive resolution owes a lot to the calmness of Brazilian centre back Murillo, who has been joined at the City Ground this season by former Benfica centre half Morato, who was a longstanding target of Marco Silva’s when the Whites made it back to the Premier League. Two former Fulham loanees could also feature for the Reds this afternoon: Ola Aina earned acclaim for his consistent displays as Scott Parker’s side went down in 2020/2021, whilst Neco Williams added plenty of adventure on loan during Silva’s first season, eventually keeping Kenny Tete out of the team as Fulham won the Championship.
Silva’s selection has been remarkably consistent this term – but it will be interesting to see how much longer he persists with the experiment of Andreas Pereira in a deeper midfield role. The Brazilian has struggled to hit the heights of his previous two campaigns at Craven Cottage and, understandably, can’t match the defensive industry of Joao Palhinha now that the Portuguese international is sitting on the bench at Bayern Munich. The long-term plan must surely be for £20m summer signing Sander Berge to add ballast to the engine room, but there were tantalising glimpses of how Pereira and Emile Smith Rowe could dovetail together as roaming playmakers when the Whites utterly overran Newcastle in the first half last Saturday. Raul Jimenez should continue as the lone forward after a top-notch performance last weekend, but the Whites will have to be both defensively disciplined and clinical in the final third to come away with anything against a dangerous Forest outfit.
MY FULHAM XI(4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Andersen, Bassey; Berge, Lukic; Traore, Iwobi, Smith Rowe, Jimenez. Subs: Benda, Castagne, Sessegnon, Diop, Reed, Cairney, Pereira, Nelson, Muniz.
