Fulham FC
Burnley FC
Burnley FC
18th place Fulham face must-win fixture against 17th place Burnley in battle to delay relegation
Burnley to win 1-0
Following West Brom’s official relegated this weekend, Fulham can be the third and final club to be sent down should they lose this game to Burnley.
Despite appearing as though they would lever themselves out of trouble not so long ago, the Cottagers’ recent form has been similar to that earlier on in the season when they first sunk into the bottom three.
Their last victory came against Liverpool, strangely enough, all of six games ago and, even if they were to win all of their four remaining games of the season, it would likely still not be enough to survive.
As for Burnley, their form has been almost as poor as Fulham’s recently, losing four of the last five in the league, but with a nine-point gap, they can feel relatively comfortably in their standing.
There is plenty to play for here, but can either side wake themselves up from their recent slumber?
Form Guide (all comps): LLLDL
Reasons to be cheerful:
Have won eight of the last nine home league games vs. Burnley
Unbeaten this season against fellow bottom seven clubs
Reasons to be fearful:
Picked up just one point from last six games
Scored just nine goals in their 17 home matches this season
Just seven games ago, Fulham were level of points with Brighton, and a single point behind Newcastle, in their fight to survive another season in the Premier League.
Unfortunately for Cottagers fans, Fulham have allowed their good form to turn into disastrous form, with a nine-point gap opening up between them and Burnley in 17th.
Their opponents are not known for scoring goals, but Fulham themselves have scored fewer goals this season and haven’t been helped by their main centre forward Alex Mitrovic, scoring just four times all campaign.
They have a good record against Burnley, winning all but one of their last nine league fixtures, but with only one point secured from their last six games this season, it’s hard to see how they can break past the Clarets’ back line.
Star Man – Bobby Reid
Reid has seven goals this season and has been Fulham’s best player on many occasions.
Form Guide (all comps): LLLWL
Reasons to be cheerful:
All of their last three wins have come away from home
Scored 12 goals in their last six away games
Reasons to be fearful:
Poor record against other struggling clubs
Only Chris Wood has scored more than three goals this season
Although Burnley haven’t been at their best this season, each time they’ve appear in danger of being dragged into a survival scrap, they’ve produced a strong surge of form to pull away from the bottom three.
The Clarets are the team closest to the danger zone right now, but with a nine-point buffer to Fulham they will be confident of staying afloat. They can gain official safety by winning this match.
Goalscoring has been a problem for them all season, of course. For only one player to score more than three goals in the league is poor, even for a club who do not pride themselves of free-flowing football.
Here, Sean Dyche will be hopeful that duo Nick Pope and Chris Wood will be fit to start after shaking off minor injuries.
Star Man – Chris Wood
Has four goals and an assist in his last two games – the Burnley top scorer is in fine form, but will he be fit enough to play?
Will be a close game between two sides not wanting to lose
Chances will be limited
Just a goal to separate them
Fulham have the added motivation of knowing that defeat will result in relegation, although they have known that this has been on the cards for some time now.
Neither side is too comfortable at the top end of the pitch, with both Manchester United and City scoring more than these two teams combined.
That said, Burnley have a good habit of winning when they need to in order to pull away from the pack.
Burnley to win 1-0
