Tottenham Hotspur will look to continue their challenge for a UEFA Champions League slot Saturday when they visit a Fulham side that has been difficult to defeat at home.
Spurs (16-6-5, 53 points) put on one of their best performances of the season last weekend, a 4-0 victory at Aston Villa to pull Ange Postecoglou’s men within two points of the fourth-place Villains.
Stoppage-time goals by Son Heung-Min and Timo Werner after Villa was reduced to 10 men put an exclamation point on the victory.
Son’s return from duty for South Korea at the Asia Cup appears to have re-invigorated the North Londoners, who have won their last two by a combined 7-1 margin. He now has 14 league goals to lead Spurs and sits tied for fifth among all EPL scorers.
Tottenham haven’t lost in seven meetings with Fulham (10-13-5, 35 points) since the Cottagers’ most-recent promotion back into the Premier League. But their last meeting was a 1-1 draw in the League Cup at Craven Cottage, where Saturday’s hosts have also won eight out of 14 in the league.
“It’s a tough one, particularly at Craven Cottage,” Postecoglou insisted. “(Fulham manager Marco Silva) has them well organized and their front three are a threat, for sure. We’ve got to play to our capabilities, but if we do then we’ll be hard to stop.”
For the last two months, Silva’s side has navigated the injury absence of striker Raul Jimenez, who is still tied for the club lead with five league goals.
The Mexico international will be available for selection on Saturday, but with the way Brazilian teammate Rodrigo Muniz has played Silva will feel no rush to make a change.
The 22-year-old’s five league goals have all come since Jimenez’s absence opened up a place in the lineup, helping Fulham take 11 points from the last seven matches.
The return of Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi from duty for Nigeria at the African Cup of Nations has also boosted Fulham’s squad, with each scoring during a 2-1 win at Manchester United at the end of last month.
Silva’s men have yet to score a goal against Spurs in either of their matches this season — their 1-1 Leagues Cup draw came via an own-goal — but each of Spurs’ three visits to Craven Cottage since Fulham’s last promotion has been decided by a single goal or less.
“It’s going to be the third time we’re going to play against them,” Silva said. “If you ask me if I would like to repeat the same performance when we played against them in the Carabao Cup, I would love it.”
–Field Level Media