Marco Silva previews his Fulham side's first-ever trip to Hill Dickinson Stadium to take on his former club Everton in the Premier League on Saturday
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 16: Marco Silva, Manager of Fulham (R), reacts on the touchline next to Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Fulham FC at St. James Park on December 16, 2023 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Marco Silva, manager of Fulham, returns to Everton this weekend(Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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Fulham manager Marco Silva is relishing the prospect of a first trip to his former club Everton's new home. The Cottagers head to Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday (3pm).
It will be the first time that Silva, who managed Everton between May 2018 and December 2019, and Fulham will have visited the new waterfront venue.
The Portuguese has never lost any of his previous trips to the Blues with the Cottagers, only being denied a fourth straight win at their old Goodison Park home thanks to an injury-time Beto equaliser last season.
And Silva said: “It’s always good when you go back to a place where you are going to see familiar faces and some people that you know very well, and people that treat you very, very well.
“Some people in that structure, some players, they are still there from our time as well. And what I expect is always the same that I got the other times before, to have some good conversation before and after the match with people that I know very, very well, and people that welcome us always very well in that football club.
“(But) when we start the kick-off, each one is going to try to win the game, as always. That is the main thing.
“Of course, Goodison was a special one. Okay, (moving) was the step that the club should give, and they gave. They are pleased with the place where they are playing right now, and it’s going to be the first time, first experience for us in that stadium.
“But you can feel it, you can see it, that it’s been very, very good for them in that aspect, and we are going to embrace the challenge of playing there against a good side. A side with a very experienced manager, some mature players as well.
“They added some great individuals for their squad, and it’s going to be a tough game, like always when you play away from home in the Premier League, when you play away from home against an Everton side, is always very difficult.
“But we have to look back, and the way this group of players changed completely the story of this football club recently against Everton away from home, just shows what we have been doing.”
Fulham's 2-0 win over Everton in February 2021 - four months before Silva's arrival at Craven Cottage - ended their run of 22 consecutive league defeats at Goodison.
After that Silva's side won three of their four visits to L4 including a Carabao Cup quarter-final made infamous by Amadou Onana's woeful penalty miss in the shootout that the Blues lost.
And the Cottagers boss added: “We want to repeat the last few results there, and the good performance and the way we won the games that were very impressive in some moments. That is the main thing for us.
“They have been achieving good results at home so far. Of course, I know that they lost their last one at home (3-0 to Tottenham Hotspur), but they have been achieving good results so far.
“The impact of the new stadium and the home games is there clearly, if you want to analyse, but it's up to us. Our recent away form has not been good enough in terms of results, and we want to change it.
“The next one is Everton, and it's another opportunity for us to do it.”
Fulham have yet to win on their travels in the Premier League this season but are now just one point behind the Blues in 15th after triumphing 3-0 at home to rock-bottom Wolves last time out.