Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Premier League clash between Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Wolverhampton Wanderers will be looking to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone when they travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams meet for the first time since March when Gary O’Neil‘s side secured a 2-1 top-flight victory at Molineux.
Match preview
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Fulham are bidding to win three Premier League games on the bounce for the first time since January 2023 after beating Brentford and Crystal Palace in their last two matches prior to the international break.
A dramatic 2-1 comeback victory at home to Brentford, courtesy of two stoppage-time goals from super-sub Harry Wilson, was followed by a 2-0 win away against 10-man Palace a fortnight ago, thanks to goals from Emile Smith Rowe and Wilson.
Marco Silva‘s men have accumulated 18 points from their opening 11 Premier League matches and sit seventh in the table, just one point behind each of the next four teams above them, meaning they could finish the weekend inside the top four if they beat Wolves and other results go their way.
After losing four and drawing one of their final five home league games of last season, Fulham have since made a positive start to the new campaign in front of their own fans, having picked up 10 points from their opening five matches at Craven Cottage (W3 D1 L1).
The Cottagers, who have not won back-to-back home games since March, secured a 3-2 home victory over Wolves last season, but that represents their only triumph across their last eight Premier League meetings with the West Midlands outfit.
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After failing to win any of their first 10 Premier League games of the season, Wolves entered the international break on a much-needed high after beating fellow strugglers Southampton 2-0 at Molineux.
Pablo Sarabia‘s opener after just one minute and 48 seconds – Wolves’ fastest-ever Premier League goal – was followed by a 51st-minute strike from in-form attacker Matheus Cunha that secured the Old Gold their first top-flight win since April.
Gary O’Neil was pleased with his side’s “gritty performance” against an “awkward” Saints outfit, with victory helping Wolves climb off the foot of the table – albeit up just one place to 19th – and to within two points of 17th-placed Ipswich Town, who are hovering just above the relegation zone.
After a challenging fixture schedule at the start of this campaign, Wolves will face just two of last season’s top eight across their next nine Premier League fixtures and will be hoping to put together a positive run of form in the coming weeks as they endeavour to boost their survival hopes.
However, Wolves head into Saturday’s clash with Fulham having won just one of their of their last eight Premier League visits to Cravan Cottage (D4 L3), while they have lost seven of their last 10 top-flight away matches in London, including both this season, with those 10 matches averaging 4.5 goals per game.
Fulham Premier League form:
Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:
Team News
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Fulham’s only injury concern is with midfielder Sasa Lukic, who has missed the last four games with a shoulder injury picked up on international duty and is unlikely to be involved this weekend.
Former Wolves striker Raul Jimenez and Andreas Pereira are set to return late from international duty after representing Mexico and Brazil respectively earlier this week, but the pair could still be in contention to start on Saturday.
Harry Wilson has scored three goals in his last two appearances as a substitute, while he also found the net on international duty with Wales on Tuesday, so he will be pushing to start on either flank ahead of either Reiss Nelson or Alex Iwobi.
As for Wolves, they are still having to cope without long-term absentees Sasa Kalajdzic, Enso Gonzalez, Boubacar Traore and Yerson Mosquera as they all continue to recover from knee injuries.
Wolves made a request to the Uruguayan FA to recall Santiago Bueno earlier this month after the defender initially reported for international duty with a muscle injury; the 26-year-old will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Hwang Hee-Chan will also be assessed after missing the last four games with an ankle ligament injury. However, even if the South Korean was passed fit to feature, he would not be expected to start in attack ahead of Cunha or Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Pereira; Iwobi, Smith Rowe, Nelson; Jimenez
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Bueno, Dawson, Toti; Semedo, Lemina, Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Sarabia, Cunha; Strand Larsen
We say: Fulham 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Goals are to be expected in Saturday’s contest as both teams have scored in each of Fulham’s opening five home matches this term, while Wolves have scored in all of their last 10 league games, netting at least twice in four of their last five.
Both teams will view this match as a winnable one, but Fulham will be regarded as slight favourites at Craven Cottage and may just do enough to edge out the Old Gold on this occasion, as they did in this fixture last season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
