Fulham FC vs Crystal Palace, Premier League 2022-2023, Today Match Prediction

Fulham FC vs Crystal Palace Match Prediction & Analysis

Both Fulham and Crystal Palace made light work of their most recent games, winning 2-0 and appear to be cruising towards the end of successful seasons.

The Cottagers were one of the favourites to face relegation this season, although Marco Silva has turned his promoted team into a fine top half side.

Now that Aleksandar Mitrovic has returned to the fold, they will be looking to end the season in positive fashion, giving their home crowd one last hurrah for the campaign.

Crystal Palace will shortly have to make a decision surrounding a permanent manager, although Roy Hodgson has done superbly at steering this team through the final couple of months or so of the season.

Hodgson is unlikely to stay on for next season, but whoever takes over will have a talented, athletic bunch of players to try and push on for bigger and better things.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Fulham FC Preview

Reasons to be cheerful:

     Won their last two games in the league

     Beat Palace 3-0 earlier in the season

Reasons to be fearful:

     Can’t afford complacency with two games to go

     James could be out, with Pereira, Ream and Kurzawa definitely absent

The Cottagers deserve to finish the season inside the Premier League’s top half, and they will do so if they win here, or if Chelsea fail to beat Manchester City 24 hours later.

In truth, it has been a comfortable season for Fulham, although that doesn’t give their players – not to mention their manager – the credit they deserve.

They’ve pulled off some excellent results this season, home and away, and even the games they’ve lost they’ve often been close behind.

They coped without the suspended Mitrovic for eight games well, although he returned last weekend with a goal and a typically talismanic performance.

The Cottagers realise that they probably won’t climb any higher than 10th this season, although catching Brentford in 9th is a possibility, but they must keep their performance levels high all the same.

Star Man – Aleksandar Mitrovic

Will have returned from suspension with a point to prove last weekend, and got his goal too. He has 13 for the season, which doesn’t do justice to the impact he has on this team.

Crystal Palace Preview

Reasons to be cheerful

     Three wins from the last six

     Won five of their eight games under Hodgson

Reasons to be fearful

     Lost their last two games on the road

     Just two wins away from Selhurst Park in 2023

For Roy Hodgson to have come in and won five of his eight games in charge will have been beyond the ambitions of chairman Steve Parish.

Parish will have expected a steady hand to guide them through the final couple of months of the season and avoid relegation, but they have been one of the most exciting teams to watch too during that period.

They’ve been better at Selhurst Park, of course, scoring six times in their past two home appearances. Away from home has been a trickier story, with consecutive defeats handed down without scoring.

The Eagles will face a tough challenge here, and it’ll be up to them to some extent in terms of how much effort they bring to what is essentially a game with nothing riding on it.

Star Man – Eberechi Eze

Eze became Palace’s top scorer this season with a brilliant brace against Bournemouth last weekend. He has six goals from his previous seven appearances.