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Fulham welcome Southampton to Craven Cottage in the Premier League on New Year’s Eve.
Marco Silva’s side emerged from their winter hibernation to bully Crystal Palace into a 3-0 defeat which was impressive before the Eagles were reduced to nine men.
A convincing defeat to south coast rivals Brighton condemned Southampton to a fourth consecutive Premier League reverse, leaving Nathan Jones’ side propping up the rest of the division with almost half of the season gone.
Here’s everything you need to know about the final game of 2022 for this pair.
Fulham vs Southampton H2H Results (Last Five Games)
Current Form (Last Five Games)
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Fulham team news
Aleksandar Mitrovic was a significant doubt going into Fulham’s World Cup return. Not only did the burly Serbian start, but he created two goals, got James Tomkins sent off and scored himself.
Neeskens Kebano (Achilles) and Manor Solomon (knee) may not be back until the new year, but as long as Fulham have Mitrovic, they have an ever-potent goal threat.
Layvin Kurzawa could come back from “a small setback” on Saturday to bolster Silva’s defensive options.
Fulham Starting 11 (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, Diop, Ream, Robinson; Reed, Palhinha; De Cordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Mitrovic.
Bench: Rodak, Tosin, Duffy, Chalobah, Cairney, Harris, James, Wilson, Vinicius.
Southampton team news
Within one minute of Southampton’s post-World Cup return, Theo Walcott felt his calf muscle tighten. The former Arsenal winger joins goalkeeper Alex McCarthy (ankle) and Juan Larios (muscle) in the treatment room.
Romeo Lavia is being cautiously eased back from a hamstring injury while Tino Livramento is experiencing a similarly tentative reintroduction to training following eight months on the sidelines.
Southampton Starting 11 (4-2-3-1): Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Lyanco, Salisu, Perraud; Ward-Prowse, Diallo; Djenepo, Elyounoussi, Edozie; Adams.
Bench: Caballero, Caleta-Car, Bella-Kotchap, S Armstrong, Maitland-Niles, Aribo, Morgan, A Armstrong, Mara.
Silva revelled in his side’s ability to match Palace’s energy and “be brave” while it was numerically even. Jones is an intense individual (on and off the pitch) and strives to replicate that in his teams. Yet, in direct contrast to his upcoming opponent, lamented that Southampton were “not as brave as we should be”.
The last time Jones took a team to Craven Cottage, he watched his Luton Town side get walloped 7-0. It surely won’t be the same NFL score this weekend but you’d have to be brave to suggest anything other than a Fulham win.
Prediction: Fulham 3-1 Southampton
