Fulham look to seal promotion as Marco Silva’s Cottagers host Preston North End at Craven Cottage.
Victory would see Fulham secure automatic promotion and move closer towards the title, whereas Preston can climb to 12th with a win.
Team News
Fulham have no fresh injury concerns to report after Friday’s defeat at Derby County as Terence Kongolo remains absent with a knee injury.
Preston could welcome Emil Riis Jakobsen back after he missed Friday’s draw against Millwall with a hamstring injury.
Alan Browne (glute) is a doubt but Izzy Brown (Achilles), Ryan Ledson (knee) and Tom Barkhuizen (calf) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Fulham have lost just one of their last nine meetings against Preston (W5, D3, L1).
- Preston have claimed two points from four previous Championship visits to Craven Cottage (D2, L2).
- None of the three draws between Fulham and Preston in the Championship have finished goalless.
- Four of Fulham’s last six league goals at home have been scored by Aleksandar Mitrovic and Bobby Reid, who have both each scored twice apiece.
- Preston have failed to score in their last three matches (D1, L2), during which they only kept one clean sheet and conceded five goals across both defeats.
Prediction
Having missed their first chance to seal promotion in a surprise defeat at Derby on Good Friday, Fulham were still dominant but simply frustrated in their finishing by Rams’ goalkeeper – Ryan Allsop so I expect them to come out fighting especially after two consecutive defeats.
Although the play-offs look just out of reach for Preston, Ryan Lowe’s Lilywhites aren’t entirely out of contention yet but they have proven a difficult team to beat this month, although I do expect a more defensive approach here than we saw against Millwall on Friday.
This match though is Fulham’s to lose and unless Preston deliver a superb defensive effort, I just can’t see Marco Silva’s Cottagers being denied promotion on home turf.
Prediction: Fulham 2-0 Preston
Result: Fulham 3-0 Preston