Fulham vs Southampton

Craven Cottage sets the stage for a high-stakes Premier League encounter between Fulham and Southampton.

Fulham have established themselves as genuine European contenders this season. They enter this round on the periphery of the top six after only losing once in their last eight Premier League outings (W3, D4). Furthermore, the Cottagers have significantly affected the title picture, holding Arsenal (1-1) and Liverpool (2-2) to back-to-back draws in the last two rounds. Marco Silva’s side opened the scoring on each occasion. Delivering action from the get-go, Fulham have drawn first blood in a league-high seven of their eight home matches this season, highlighting the potential for a quick-fire start. Heavily fancied to improve their decent four-game league form at home (W2, D1, L1), Fulham will be out to extend a two-match winning streak against a downtrodden Southampton.

Meanwhile, Southampton’s humiliating Premier League campaign hit a new low last weekend as Tottenham Hotspur humbled them 5-0 at St Mary’s Stadium, condemning underperforming manager Russell Martin to an inevitable dismissal. The Saints have ominously lost 13 of their 16 league outings this season (W1, D2) and are already nine points adrift of 17th-placed Leicester City. It’s up to new manager Ivan Juric to pick up the slack after a gut-wrenching 2-1 home loss to Liverpool in midweek EFL Cup action and try to salvage Southampton’s dreadful campaign. However, that’s easier said than done. Juric’s first assignment is to find a cure for the Saints’ travel sickness as they’ve lost seven of their eight away matches in the Premier League this term (D1), including three of the last four via an identical 1-0 scoreline.