Tottenham are seeking a path back to their winning ways after an under-par draw against West Ham welcoming a definitive Fulham side.
Antonio Conte's side’s performance was unimpressive in the 1-1 draw against Hammers in the midweek when Fulham picked up a 2-1 well-earned win over Brighton at Craven Cottage.
TOT vs FUL Match Details
Date: Saturday, 3 September 2022
Time: 15:00 (BST) / 19:30 (IST)
Venue: Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London
TOT vs FUL Match Preview
Manager Antonio Conte claimed Premier League officials need to learn the usage of VAR after an early penalty decision for Tottenham with the ball looking to have hit defender Aaron Creswell’s arm in the box was overturned by Peter Bankes checking on the screen. It took Bankes three minutes to change the decision and it did affect the game later on with Spurs failing to double the lead conceded by West Ham through a Thilo Kehrer own goal as Tomas Souchek scored the leveller five minutes into the second half. In fact, it gave the home side the chance to create the better chances of the two in the game from there and only their wastefulness saved Tottenham in the evening. Spurs dominated possession of the ball but failed to take any advantage of it. Although, Tottenham will take it as a one-off game and quickly try to turn results into their favor in the unbeaten start to their campaign. This is the second time points were dropped by the Lilywhites sitting third on the Premier League table by claiming 11 points from the first four games of the season and four points off bitter rivals Arsenal at the top. Antonio Conte’s men enter a busy period in the fixture list with three games now scheduled within a week. Starting with Fulham at the weekend, Spurs take on Marseille in the Champions League next weekend before making the crunching trip to Manchester to face the champions, City back in the Premier League. A win against the elegant cottagers will draw them close to the top spot although this London derby promises to be a challenging one as well. Spurs have a hugely encouraging record against Fulham winning 11 of their 13 games against them since 2010, dropping points only once and only one loss to show. The draw came only recently two seasons ago last time their weekend opposition was in the top flight. Conte has guided the team to an 11-game unbeaten streak in the Premier including five consecutive wins at home. They are bound to be confident to carry on their glittering streak.
Marco Silva’s Fulham believes this is the season they can thrive and aim for a top-half finish unlike their previous top-flight season when everything went out of control in their doomed relegation. That time the Cottagers managed only five wins the whole campaign with the first not arriving until the seventh game that too fellow strugglers West Brom. Two years on, Fulham have become a different unit altogether under a manager like Silva having Premier League experience and guiding the club to a vibrant start to the 2021/22 season. Their 2-1 victory against Brighton in the midweek proves Fulham are not putting their guard down after narrowly losing to Arsenal and sharing points with Liverpool marking themselves as a threat to the regular favorites. The promising start for the Cottagers is thanks to their cohesiveness and star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic shining with goals. His opener in the game was his fifth in the season as he continues to silence his critics. Putting together a team to stay in the Premier League was a priority but Fulham have exceeded their expectations. Currently, Marco Silva’s men sit eighth on the table with eight points same as Leeds and Liverpool and just two points off a top four spot. They are put into a stern test now against Spurs at the weekend. As good as Fulham looked till now, the Cottagers are yet to manage a win away from home which is not a concern at the moment but will be a major issue if they start losing points on travels. It will be harder to pick all three points considering their stale record in this fixture even though Spurs have caused problems for themselves at times being too defensive-minded and unable to stretch the opposition. However, Antonio Conte’s men know to switch the gear at will and pick up wins from there with their unbeaten streak being the major worry for Fulham.
TOT vs FUL Team News
Tottenham have four players doubtful for Fulham with Christian Romero nearing his return from a muscle injury as well as Rodrigo Bentancur. He missed the midweek draw against West Ham through a head injury suffered last weekend at Nottingham Forest. Wingers Bryan Gill and Lucas Moure are also doubts for the game with a knock. No change is expected from the lineup that started the draw against the Hammers but Richarlison can replace Dejan Kulusevski for his first Premier League start. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg seems to have picked up an injury midway in the second half but managed to shake it off to last the full game and should start on Saturday.
Fulham have a fresh and upbeat squad so far with Harry Wilson and Manor Soloman the known absentees due to their knee injuries. The pair is expected to be back this month. Like Spurs, Marco Silva is unlikely to change the side that won against Brighton on Wednesday with Aleksandar Mitrovic willing to add to his five strikes in as many games in the Premier League.
TOT vs FUL Predicted Lineups
TOT: Hugo Lloris; Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Ben Davies; Emerson Royal, Hojbjerg, Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic; Richarlison, Harry Kane, Son
FUL: Bernd Leno; Kenny Tete, Tosin Adarabioyo, Team Ream, Antonee Robinson; Harrison Reed, Joao Palhinha; Decordova-Reid, Andreas Pereira, Neeskens Kebano; Aleksandar Mitrovic
Recent Form (League)
TOT: DWWDW
FUL: WLWDD
TOT vs FUL Head to Head
The 1-1 draw in the last meeting at this ground is the only time Fulham managed to restrict Tottenham since 2013 when they won at Spurs’ old ground, White Hart Lane with Dimitar Berbatov scoring the only goal of the game inside five minutes. Harry Kane, who has six goals in the last five games against Fulham, opened the scoring in the meeting in 2021 but Spurs failed to add more on the evening courtesy of now West Ham keeper, Alphonso Areola’s saves letting Ivan Cavaleiro net the equalizer in the 74th minute completely against the run of play.
TOT vs FUL Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Lloris
DEF: Royal, Sanchez, Davies, Robinson
MID: Perisic, Hojbjerg, Palhinha, Kebano
FW: Kane, Mitrovic
Captain: Harry Kane
Vice-captain: Aleksandar Mitrovic
