Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham preview, team news, tickets and prediction
Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham clash in the Premier League London derby in early December. It is the start of another month and a chance for the teams to get their acts together as the games keep coming.
Tottenham’s season has been mixed and they are just trying to secure results that will keep them in touch with the teams ahead of them. On the other hand, Fulham are doing just fine going by their standards and they will be pleased to extend it further when they make the short trip to North London.
As of the time of writing this piece, Spurs have 13 pts from their opening eight games of the season and are ranked 7th on the Premier League log, while Fulham have 11 pts from the same number of games and they sit in 9th spot.
Tottenham have had mixed results including a capitulation at Brighton before the international break in October. However, the strong form of Brennan Johnson has helped them navigate some difficult games over the recent weeks. So far this term, the Whites have won four games - Everton, Brentford, Manchester United and West Ham - while they have lost three including defeat to Arsenal at home in the North London derby. As of the time of writing, they have also drawn just one game in the Premier League.
It comes after Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou claimed that he always delivers silverware in his second season.
He said in an interview: "I'll correct myself - I don't usually win things, I always win things in my second year. Nothing's changed.
"I've said it now. I don't say things unless I believe them."
"It's amazing, isn't it? I just stated a fact. Am I supposed to just lie or just say it never happened?
"But do you really think it's me sort of boasting?
"It's just confusing to me that people are making a big deal out of something. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to answer something that is true.”
Time is still on his side though to sort of make that happen.
Spurs Skipper Son Heung-min has not been his usual impressive self in the first few weeks of the season, and not to forget the struggles of Timo Werner and Richarlison. However, Ange Postecoglou has been able to devise a team that can create chances and score goals with other attackers. If they want to do something significant this term, the Aussie coach will be keen to see his star forwards regain their form.
As for Fulham, they have blown hot and cold over the past few seasons. Although they are now established in the Premier League, the expectations for a finish in one of the European spots have not been far-fetched and manager Marco Silva knows that well enough. In this campaign so far, the Cottagers have won three games, drawn two, and lost the remaining three. One of the outstanding results for them so far is the home win over Newcastle. As of the term of writing, the team has failed to win any game in October following losses to Manchester City - a game they could have even won - and Aston Villa.
Silva will hope his forwards can be clinical enough in the forthcoming games following the displays of Adama Traore at the Etihad and Andreas Perreira’s penalty miss in the home loss to Aston Villa. Given the above, Fulham does have a team capable of competing, but if they fail to address their weaknesses, they might not fulfill their potential.
Although the two teams shared the wins last term, Spurs have dominated the head-to-head over the past seasons, so they will start this contest as the obvious favourites once again. Fulham last won at Spurs over a decade ago, but nothing can stop them if they come up with a strong performance once again.
In total, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham have played 40 Games since 2001. Tottenham Hotspur won 22 games, Fulham won 9, and they drew 9.
Match tickets
The epic match at Tottenham Stadium in London kicks off on Sunday 1st December 2024, at 13:30 UK time.
The magnificent 62,850-capacity stadium is the place to be for this clash between the Whites and the Cottagers.
Getting Tottenham vs Fulham tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
Skipper Son Heung-Min should lead the attack alongside Solanke, who is settling in so fast, and Johnson who has turned his Spurs career around. As of the time of writing, Wilson Odobert, Richarlison, and Timo Werner are nursing one injury or the other but some of them should return to the side ahead of this game.
Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Maddison, Bentancur, Johnson, Kulusevski, Son, Solanke.
As of the time of writing, Carlos Vinicius remains the only injured player in Fulham's ranks. That said, the Cottagers should start with almost the same team that started most of the games so far this season. Pereira, who has been given a more central role since the arrival of Smith Rowe from Arsenal, should sit alongside Lukic to orchestrate things in the middle of the park. Iwobi and Traore - who have made solid starts to the season - have roles to play in this particular encounter and barring any injuries, Raul Jimenez should lead the line for the Cottagers.
Fulham: Leno, Robinson, Bassey, Andersen, Tete; Lukic, Iwobi, Pereira, Traore, Smith Rowe; Jimenez.
Prediction
Tottenham are expected to dominate the ball possession and probably create many chances against Fulham who are also enterprising with their style. Spurs’ defence remains a suspect and the visitors will look to exploit that but it won’t be easy at all.
On their day, Tottenham can hurt any team and they will need to turn up in this clash against one of the teams that can hurt on their day too.
With that being said, the Whites should do just enough to take all three points.
Tottenham 2-1 Fulham
