How Sunday's opponents are shaping up
Dejected Fulham players during the defeat to Wolves
Dejected Fulham players during the defeat to Wolves / Julian Finney/GettyImages
Tomorrow afternoon, for the slightly unconventional kick off time of 13:30 GMT, Spurs will take to the field for match day thirteen of the 24/25 Premier League season, as they welcome Fulham across London to The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
So, what can we expect from Fulham ahead of the game?
How Fulham look ahead of the showdown on Sunday afternoon
It has been a positive start to the season from Marco Silva’s side, who have picked up 18 points from their 19 games so far – just one fewer than Spurs. Considering the pre-season expectations, the Cottagers should be pretty happy with their start to the campaign.
The start is even more impressive when you consider they lost star man Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich in the summer. Last season, they managed to cope well despite the departure of Aleksandar Mitrovic to the Middle East, and they have shown again this season, that they can compete despite such a key player departing.
Furthermore, the West London outfit are unfortunate not to have more points, having been by far the better team in a very unlucky 3-2 defeat at Manchester City a while back. In a home defeat to Aston Villa, Andreas Pereira had a penalty saved at 1-1, which no doubt would have changed the swing of the game.
There is a possibility that the attacking trio behind striker Raul Jimenez could be made of Arsenal academy graduates – Emile Smith-Rowe, Alex Iwobi, and Reiss Nelson, with the latter still being contracted to the club, so you can be sure they will receive plenty from the home end.
Still, despite this, there is no doubt that Smith-Rowe is a key dangerman for Fulham, and Spurs will have to be wary of his threat. The midfielder likes to pick up those pockets in the final third, and his ball carrying has been a consistent danger to opponents all season.
Last time out, Fulham were not as unfortunate as they been in other defeats – as they got thrashed 4-1 at home to Wolves, where Spurs linked Matheus Cunha scored two goals, and provided a further assist. That said, part of the reason the scoreline got so heavy was because central defender Joachim Andersen went off injured, after all five subs had been made.
On that note, should that injury keep him out of this game, it would be a huge boost for Spurs. On Thursday night, we saw two opposition central defenders find the back of the net, and Andersen would have carried a big threat in that regard. Furthermore, his exceptional long passing could have found Ange’s side wanting over the top of their own defence.
Plenty of people have said that it would be very typical of Spurs to drop points against Fulham, after battering Manchester City. Let’s hope that the ‘Spursy’ narrative was used up in the AS Roma game, and Spurs can have a clean slate for this one.