Fulham welcome Southampton to Craven Cottage in a huge Boxing Day clash at opposite ends of the table.
Victory would lift Fulham out of the relegation zone and up to 16th due to their main relegation rivals around them not playing until Sunday, whilst Southampton could temporarily go as high as third if Manchester United lose at Leicester in the lunchtime kick-off.
Team News
Joachim Andersen is available for Fulham after his red card at Newcastle was rescinded upon appeal.
Ivan Cavaleiro (hamstring) is a doubt, although Kenny Tete (fitness) could feature but Terence Kongolo is still sidelined with a foot injury.
Southampton could be without Jannik Vestergaard due to a knee injury.
Nathan Redmond (muscle), Danny Ings (hamstring) and Stuart Armstrong (hand) are also doubts but Oriol Romeu is suspended after collecting a fifth booking last weekend.
Stat Attack
- Fulham have won just one of their last six meetings against Southampton in all competitions (W1, L5).
- Southampton have won one of seven previous Premier League trips to Craven Cottage (W1, D2, L4).
- After 14 previous Premier League meetings, Fulham have never been awarded a penalty against Southampton who scored their only spot-kick in this fixture.
- No Southampton player has been substituted in more league games this season than Che Adams, who was benched on eight occasions.
- Fulham’s Ivan Cavaleiro and Ademola Lookman have been caught offside on three occasions each this season, more than any other Cottagers player.
- Just one of Fulham’s last five Boxing Day fixtures took place at Craven Cottage, drawing 1-1 against Wolves in December 2018.
- Southampton have lost just one of their last four Boxing Day away trips (W2, D1, L1), of which three came in London (W1, D1, L1).
Prediction
Fulham were impressive last weekend at Newcastle but sadly lacked any real clinical edge to finishing their shots, which is a worry because Southampton will be a difficult team to beat without scoring.
Saying that, if Redmond, Ings and Armstrong are ruled out then Southampton will be more vulnerable after narrowly losing a tightly fought contest against Manchester City through poor finishing themselves.
I am therefore expecting a rough encounter here between two teams who last time out lacked any real clinical edge, making a draw a decent bet but if Southampton have some of their key players available then they should win this.
Prediction: Fulham 0-1 Southampton
Result: Fulham 0-0 Southampton
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