Fulham and Southampton are set to meet at Craven Cottage this weekend with both sides in completely contrasting bouts of form in the Premier League table ahead of the New Year's Day games in England.
The Cottagers enter this game with them now inside the top 10 following on from a magical season under Marco Silva. They have moved into ninth now after an excellent win in their return to Premier League action by smashing Crystal Palace 3-0.
At the same time, the opposite happened for Southampton, as they now enter this game bottom of the Premier League table after another home loss, this time to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Over the past few campaigns under Ralph Hasenhüttl, the Saints have gradually got worse and worse. The Austrian then left his role just before the World Cup break and things have seemingly not improved under Nathan Jones.
Now, as we come into 2023, fears of relegation for Southampton are as alarming as they’ve ever been. Against Brighton, captain James Ward-Prowse netted another goal for his club and his fantastic form is the only positive so far this season. On the other hand, Ward-Prowse’s goal came when the club were already 3-0 down at St Mary’s.
Fulham, however, made easy work of their London rivals Crystal Palace with a 3-0 victory at Selhurst Park. Bobby Reid scored another Premier League goal that day, as Tim Ream scored too after a decent World Cup for him.
Once again, Aleksandar Mitrovic grabbed the headlines with another goal to make it 3-0 and 10 goals in 13 games for him in the Premier League this season.
The Cottagers are now up into ninth in the table and this means Fulham sit the highest they have in the English top flight at this stage in a season since Roy Hodgson left the club over a decade ago.
Southampton, however, now have to make up a two-point gap just to get out of the relegation zone and this doesn’t look like coming any time soon.
Based on the recent run of form, it feels like there is only one winner in this game.
Fulham will head into this clash with Southampton eyeing up a spot in the top eight, while Southampton merely look to get out of the drop zone. With this in mind, Forebet predicts a win for Fulham and for the game to see over 2.5 goals.
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