Fulham Match Preview

Graham Potter’s first league game in charge of West Ham United was a 3-2 home win over Fulham. The ever-loyal fan base will be hoping that Nuno Espírito Santo can replicate the achievement of his predecessor this afternoon.

The Hammers were unable to lift themselves out of the relegation zone after the games against Manchester United, Brighton and Hove Albion, as well as Aston Villa recently but weren’t expected to get anything from last weekend’s game against Manchester City at The Etihad Stadium and they didn’t.

Now, they face a run of games in which it is vital that they collect victories. Before they meet the Seagulls for the second time in under a month on Tuesday night, Marco Silva’s Cottagers come to town.

In the 2023/24 season, west was definitely best, as Silva’s men won both fixtures but let me tell you, that is not the norm.

The home fans always love London derby successes but the Irons are yet to win one this term so maximum points are the requirement here.

Espírito Santo’s men might have had more preparation time ahead of this game but form wise, it is the visitors who have momentum behind them after a 1-0 home win over Nottingham Forest on Monday night.

Kyle Walker-Peters is set to retain his place in the side, whilst the other change from the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa back on 14 December saw youngster Oliver Scarles restored to the starting line-up after just under two months out, following a broken collarbone. However, he suffered another injury and had to be replaced during the second-half of the encounter against Josep Guardiola’s team.

It is as yet unknown whether Max Kilman will drop to the bench again as he was selected in the matchday squad for the game with the Citizens after being ousted from the start in the recent encounters with both the Villains, as well as the Red Devils. Konstantinos Mavropanos, Tomáš Souček and Callum Wilson could all be in line to return.

The match is a 3pm kick-off and the referee is Christopher Kavanagh.