Fulham (no, seriously, this time I'm sure it really is Fulham) Sat 14th Sept 3pm not on TV
The good news is that Fullkrug's injury is reported to be "minor" and he could be back for Chelsea next week but that leaves a big question mark over who starts up front this Saturday
I'm guessing Areola's back is okay otherwise he wouldn't have been on the bench for France but there are rumours that Galatasaray will make a move for Emerson before the Turkish window closes on Friday and Cresswell is out with a hamstring for the foreseeable
So what's been going on at Fulham?
Five players out, six players in
Out
CM Joao Palhinha (Bayern £47.4m)
CB Tosin Adarabioyo (Chelsea free)
RW Bobby De Cordova-Reid (Leicester free)
CB Tim Ream (Charlotte, free)
LW Willian (Olympiacos free)
In
AM Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal £27m + £7m add ons)
CB Joachim Andersen (Palace £30m)
CM/DM Sander Berge (Burnley £25m)
CB Jorge Cuenca (Villarreal £5.4m)
LB Ryan Sessegnon (Spurs, free)
RW/LW Reiss Nelson (Arsenal, loan) was a late addition, set to go on loan to Ipswich before he switched to Fulham about half an hour before the window closed
Da Silva has used the same starting line up for all three EPL matches with Smith Rowe as the only new signing included. He's stepped into Andreas Pereira's old No 10 spot with Pereira dropping deeper to play as a No 8 in the space left by Palhinha although Fulham fans don't seem that convinced
Leno
Tete Diop Bassey Robinson
Pereira Lukic
Traore Smith Rowe Iwobi
Muniz
Andersen, Berger and Sessegnon all started against Birmingham in the League Cup but otherwise they've been on the bench with only Berge making a 20 minute appearance against Ipswich
No reports of injuries during the international break although Pereira had to come off against Ipswich, if he's still injured then Berge, CM/AM Tom Cairney (club captain, oldest and longest serving player) or DM/CM Harrison Reed are possible replacements
And there's Raul Jiminez on the bench, 5 goals in 9 games against us,
Another options currently occupying the bench is LW/RW Harry Wilson who scored a 25-yaes cracker for Wales against Montenegro
The last time we visited Craven Cottage we got thumped 5-0 and they went on to beat us 2-0 at home, the first time Fulham have done the double over us since 1965/66. A draw would be nice
I'm guessing Areola's back is okay otherwise he wouldn't have been on the bench for France but there are rumours that Galatasaray will make a move for Emerson before the Turkish window closes on Friday and Cresswell is out with a hamstring for the foreseeable
So what's been going on at Fulham?
Five players out, six players in
Out
CM Joao Palhinha (Bayern £47.4m)
CB Tosin Adarabioyo (Chelsea free)
RW Bobby De Cordova-Reid (Leicester free)
CB Tim Ream (Charlotte, free)
LW Willian (Olympiacos free)
In
AM Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal £27m + £7m add ons)
CB Joachim Andersen (Palace £30m)
CM/DM Sander Berge (Burnley £25m)
CB Jorge Cuenca (Villarreal £5.4m)
LB Ryan Sessegnon (Spurs, free)
RW/LW Reiss Nelson (Arsenal, loan) was a late addition, set to go on loan to Ipswich before he switched to Fulham about half an hour before the window closed
Da Silva has used the same starting line up for all three EPL matches with Smith Rowe as the only new signing included. He's stepped into Andreas Pereira's old No 10 spot with Pereira dropping deeper to play as a No 8 in the space left by Palhinha although Fulham fans don't seem that convinced
Leno
Tete Diop Bassey Robinson
Pereira Lukic
Traore Smith Rowe Iwobi
Muniz
Andersen, Berger and Sessegnon all started against Birmingham in the League Cup but otherwise they've been on the bench with only Berge making a 20 minute appearance against Ipswich
No reports of injuries during the international break although Pereira had to come off against Ipswich, if he's still injured then Berge, CM/AM Tom Cairney (club captain, oldest and longest serving player) or DM/CM Harrison Reed are possible replacements
And there's Raul Jiminez on the bench, 5 goals in 9 games against us,
Another options currently occupying the bench is LW/RW Harry Wilson who scored a 25-yaes cracker for Wales against Montenegro
The last time we visited Craven Cottage we got thumped 5-0 and they went on to beat us 2-0 at home, the first time Fulham have done the double over us since 1965/66. A draw would be nice
Comments
I reckon it’ll be something like
Areola; AWB Mavropanos Kilman Emerson; Alvarez; Rodriguez Paqueta; Bowen Antonio Kudus
Given J-Lo has had time to work with Todibo and the rest of the back 3 whilst Mavropanos was away with Greece, I wonder if now will be the time that he gets a start? Perhaps more unlikely, could Soler come in for Paqueta?
He wouldn't have flown back until sometime yesterday afternoon at the earliest and there are no direct flights from Honduras to London
At this moment he might still be somewhere over the Atlantic
On players returning from international break: "We are waiting for the last players because until this afternoon, we are not going to have all of them. I'm trying to evaluate all of them, how they are, about fitness and another thing, the mind; both are very important. They're players that travel a lot, a lot of hours on planes. We have to evaluate all these things this afternoon and to know better how they are."
On Niclas Fullkrug's return: "Let's see, he has a little problem, it was a pity. But it's true that we will evaluate him too, today. Yesterday we thought he was a little bit better, today we're going to see how he is exactly and tomorrow we are going to make the last decision about him."
“I’ve got nothing against your right leg. The trouble is neither have you.”
Wan-Bissaka - Mavropanos - Kilman - Emerson
Rodríguez - Álvarez - Soler
Kudus - Bowen - Paquetá
Fabiański, Todibo, Coufal, Souček, Irving, Guilherme, Summerville, Antonio, Ings
Asked about playing the same starting line up for all three matches Silva said "If I am not happy then I will change and that is what you expect"
Regarding new signings he said it takes time for them to "come and start playing straight away"
Possibly the same XI as last time
Might need to keep an eye on him
Think Antonio needs a big game, he's offering nothing at the moment, would've preferred Bowen up top
I'm good with him dropping Paqueta though, he's also not started great
Wonder when Todibo will be thrown into the XI, I like Minos but he doesn't fill me with any confidence
Schoolboy stuff, surely Todibo addition to the starting XI is soon