Next up in our Half-Term Report series, we grade the start of Alvaro Arbeloa’s Fulham.
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RESULTS SO FAR
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GW Result Fulham’s xG Fulham’s xGC
1 Fulham 2-3 Chelsea 1.33 2.24
2 Sunderland 1-0 Fulham 0.95 2.02
3 Fulham 2-3 Crystal Palace 3.14 1.97
4 Liverpool 0-0 Fulham 0.70 1.28
5 Fulham 1-1 Man United 1.62 1.60
Having seen key names like Marco Silva, Raul Jimenez and Harry Wilson (£6.2m) depart over the summer, many labelled Fulham as relegation candidates.
Life under inexperienced head coach Arbeloa began with three narrow defeats, reinforcing that view, but the Cottagers responded by drawing 0-0 at Liverpool, and they would’ve beaten Manchester United had it not been for Matheus Cunha‘s (£7.9m) late equaliser.
So, although they’re down in 19th, there’s slight optimism that this positive fixture swing will very soon bring their first win.
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Studying the expected goals (xG) battles above, Fulham should have beaten Crystal Palace. Instead, they lost because of three Eagles’ left-wing-back goals!
XG/XGC RANK V OTHER TEAMS
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|Total|Rank v other clubs|
|:---|:---|:---|
|xG|7.74|8th|
|xGC|9.12|18th|
As well as having the third-worst expected goals conceded (xGC) tally, they’ve gifted the most big chances to opponents (20).
However, the introduction of centre-back David Affengruber (£4.5m) and a more stable double pivot of Sander Berge (£4.9m) and Shea Charles (£5.0m) has made the Cottagers look more solid in the last two Gameweeks.
The attacking data is more encouraging on paper. Arbeloa’s lot place fourth for penalty area attempts (55), joint-seventh for overall shots (72) and eighth for xG.
But will the more pragmatic approach of the last two Gameweeks curb their attacking instincts going forward?
LINE-UP LESSONS
The FPL half-term report: Fulham 7
There’s some early line-up stability, as eight players have started every game.
A couple of midfield spots are being split between Cesar Palacios (£5.4m), Berge and Charles. The latter two began the recent Liverpool and Man United meetings, pushing Alex Iwobi (£5.4m) onto the left wing.
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Three names have shared one centre-back slot, with Affengruber now favoured over Joachim Andersen (£5.0m).
Imminent recoveries of injured duo Tom Cairney (£4.9m) and Kenny Tete (£4.4m) shouldn’t yet affect first-teamers.