Match Preview: Fulham v Brighton
Brighton and Hove Albion return to Premier League action after a 10 day break with one of the most popular away days on the calendar – Fulham.
There are many reasons to love trips to Craven Cottage. It’s easy to get to, it’s a proper old school stadium, you can pack 7,000 Albion fans into the stand behind the goal and perhaps best of all, we always seem to get a result there.
Can that run continue? This Tuesday’s trip surely won’t have the meaning of Nathan Jones leading the Albion to a 2-0 win there in 2014 or the drama of Tomer Hemed’s last minute penalty in 2015 or the smash-and-grab of two goals in 90 seconds securing a completely undeserved three points in 2017.
But another victory in West London would go a long way towards securing Premier League survival for the Albion. Bring it on.
Who are Fulham?
Fulham are one of the longest-established clubs in London and became the capital city’s second professional outfit after Arsenal in 1898. They’ve reached two major cup finals in their history, losing to West Ham United in the FA Cup of 1975 and Atletico Madrid in the Europa League of 2010. The Cottagers have spent 121 years at their current home of Craven Cottage, which features two Grade II listed buildings in it’s Stevenage Road Stand and the Cottage itself. Perhaps most excitingly of all, Fulham became the first British team to sell hot dogs at their ground in 1926, which I’m sure we can all agree is easily one of the most important milestones in football in this country full stop.
What are they like now?
Well, hot dogs are still available at Craven Cottage. And this is the first year since 2014 that you can eat them while enjoying Premier League football. The Cottagers had been relegated from the top flight at the end of the 2013-14 season, enduring four seasons in the second tier before Slaviša Jokanović led them to promotion via the play offs last May. Fulham under Jokanović played some brilliantly entertaining attacking football, but the Serbian boss was either unable or unwilling to adopt a more pragmatic approach in the top flight and that cost him his job with Claudio Rainieri coming in. Results haven’t really improved too much under the likeable Italian, with just two wins from Rainieri’s 12 games in charge so far leaving Fulham second bottom, some seven points adrift of safety and staring an immediate return to the Championship in the face.
Which players should we be worried about?
Brighton were heavily linked with Aleksandar Mitrovic last January but he moved to Fulham instead, helping to fire his new club to promotion. He’s continued that goal scoring form in this campaign and leads the club’s charts with eight goals. Andre Schurrle has six from out on the wing while it’s been a difficult step up to the Premier League for Ryan Sessegnon, the 18-year-old wonderkid who hasn’t quite set the division on fire like many expected, recording just two goals in 24 games.
What’s the Albion’s record against Fulham like?
We’ve already touched upon the Albion’s recent run of successes against the Cottagers, but it is actually Fulham who dominate the head-to-head with Brighton. They’ve won over half of the 70 meetings, with 37 victories to their name and 137 goals. This will be only the second time that the two clubs have faced off in the top flight, the first being that ridiculously entertaining 2-2 draw at the Amex back in September.
What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of Fulham away?
The 2-1 win with the late Hemed penalty was probably our favourite game at Fulham. Brighton had spent the 2014-15 season being shit by and large, so to make it two wins from two at the start of the next campaign was something of a shock. Little did we know it was a sign of what was to come as we celebrated the Albion’s first back-to-back wins in what felt like a century as if promotion had been won there and then. The sun shone and the beers flowed in several wonderful pubs in the Putney area, largely funded by the Google and Amazon advertising money of a mystery benefactor.
What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of Fulham away?
Fulham were in Division Three and Brighton in Division Two when the two sides met at Craven Cottage in the first round of the League Cup in August 1995. Not that you’d have known it after 90 abject minutes, Fulham being made to look like Barcelona by a Brighton performance that would’ve put a Mid Sussex League Division 11 side to shame as the Cottagers ran out 3-0 winners.
Who’s played for both sides?
A whole host of players, largely because of Micky Adams’ phobia of signing anyone he hadn’t previously worked with which led to half of Fulham’s 1996-97 Division Three title winning squad rocking up at Withdean a couple of years later. In no particular order, there was Paul Watson, Danny Cullip, Simon Morgan, Charlie Oatway, Richard Carpenter and Paul Brooker. Goalkeepers have also switched regularly between the two with David Button the latest following his £4m capture from Fulham in the summer. Two of his predecessors in the Albion goal who also moved from the Cottage were David Stockdale and Mark Walton, who both shared a love of pies.
Other than football, what is Fulham famous for?
Money. According to official government statistics, the borough of Fulham has the highest disposable household income per person in the United Kingdom, standing at more than three times the UK average. As a result, it has plenty of notable residents including Sir Roger Moore, Brian May, Lily Allen, Toni Halliday, Daniel Radcliffe and Example who is apparently some sort of musician. We’ve never head of him, which must mean he’s as bad as Jurgen Locadia.
Where’s the betting value for Fulham v Brighton?
Chris Hughton has been more proactive in the last few away games but it’s still hard to see Brighton fully committing to victory. As a result, the draw looks a good bet at a best priced 9/4.
Prediction
A 1-1 draw. We can’t keep going to Fulham and producing smash-and-grab results, can we?
