On Sky
After the fine win at Selhurst Park, on Monday evening, when a rampant Fulham demolished Crystal Palace 4-1, Martin Jol`s side now face a difficult trip to the south coast to take on high-flying Southampton. Can Fulham get anything from this fixture? Well that is something we`re about to find out come Saturday evening.
Vital Quotes:
Darren Bent may not have hit top scoring form for us this season but that hasn`t, on the eve of a trip to Southampton, stopped Martin Jol from suggesting that Bent could gate-crash Roy Hodgson`s World Cup squad with Jol remarking at his pre-match press conference,
‘[Selection] can be a spur of the moment thing because if Bent scores five goals in the final month of the league then he could be in contention again to be selected,’
‘Bent is one of best finishers in England, he is like Defoe. And Defoe has a big chance to go to Brazil I think and Danny Welbeck is probably similar. They are all good players.’
Well what better place to start than down at St Mary`s with a goal or two!
Southampton Team News:
Following Southampton`s fine draw up at Old Trafford last Saturday, will their boss, Mauricio Pochettino leave the England international striker on the bench or will he return to the first eleven?
The former Fulham player, Steve Davis, is a doubt after picking up a minor injury in training.
Player to watch: Adam Lallana
He makes the team tick and he`s definitely one to watch.
Fulham Team News:
Martin Jol will be without two influential squad members for this fixture.
Brede Hangeland looks set to sit this one out with a sciatic nerve problem whilst Bryan Ruiz is struggling with a back problem that saw hm replaced on Monday, at Slehurst Park.
Player to watch: Pajtim Kasami
Can lightning strike twice, can he score another wonder-goal? Why not?
Match Facts & Stats
I doubt if any of you were around the last time Fulham won at Southampton, if you were I doff my cap to you. Our last win, in the league, at Southampton, was a 2-1 way back in October 1935.
Time to put that right lads!
Ref Watch:
Our officials are:-
Referee – Andre Marriner
Assistants – M. Mullarky, D. Bryan
Fourth Official – J. Linington
Match Prediction:
Last season I`d have given us a chance of beating Southampton on their own patch but they are a different proposition this season. But, if we can defend resolutely then perhaps we can snatch a point, a point I feel would be a decent result, how about you?
Next Fixtures:
Our next fixture, on Tuesday, sees us travel to Leicester for a difficult looking League Cup tie whilst next weekend we entertain Manchester United in a Premier League fixture.
