After going winless in 4 matches, surely we have to win this match. We have a good record at Fulham in recent years as we are unbeaten there in 5 league matches, winning the last 3. So, there is no reason whatsoever why we cannot beat them. But then, we also had an excellent result at home against Fulham before losing to them last season. That disappointing loss was one of the main reason why we couldn't finish in top 4 last season. So, hope we will go all out to get the revenge for that defeat. More importantly, we need to win to get back into the top 4 race.
Our attacks looked much better against ManU, even if the strikers didn't score. So, won't mind if we play the same players here. Soldado missed a good chance against ManU. Hope he will make up for that mistake by scoring in this match. Defoe is our top scorer with 9 goals so far but all of them in Cup matches. Hope he will get his first league goal in this match. Too bad Adebayor is injured as he would have given us more options in attack. Not sure if Lamela will get to play but hope he will have a good match if he does. He still needs to prove his worth to us.
On paper, our midfield looks much better than Fulham's. But our midfield need to turn up for this match. We shouldn't get complacent as Fulham got players who can hurt us. Want to see Sandro having another influential match after scoring the wonder goal against ManU. Dembele and Paulinho played well against ManU as well. But want them to help our attack more in this match. I think Lennon will be our key player in this match. As he shown against ManU, Lennon can hurt the opponents when he is in top form. But he still needs to improve his finishing. Anyway, I would always prefer the experienced Lennon over the inexperienced Townsend any time. I am still not convinced of Chadli, so would prefer Sigurdsson to start instead. Sigurdsson can be our key player if he is more consistent. Hope he will score from one of his long range shots here as he has not scored for very long time now.
After keeping many sheets before, we have conceded 8 goals in the last 2 matches. Will be very disappointed if we don't keep a clean sheet here. Lloris has looked shakey since his head injury. Hope he will get back his best form. Just don't want us to call back Friedel who is very slow now. Wish Rose is fit as that will allowe Vertonghen play in his best position. Until that happens, hope Dawson and Chiriches will get more understanding between them. Want us to concentrate on safety-first defending instead of trying to be too clever. Walker did well to score from freekick against ManU. Hope he will be our regular freekick taker and score more goals like that.
I think this is a must-win match for us to get back into the top 4 race. We cannot afford to go too long without a win as that will drop us even lower in the league table. Don't mind how we play or score as long as we get that much-needed win.