Fulham to suffer second straight draw against Millwall

Championship playoff promotion hopefuls Fulham and Millwall clash on Friday night at the Den. Both clubs suffered draws at the weekend, damaging each team's hope of promotion.

Fulham's 1-1 draw with Brentford took the West London club out of an automatic promotion place. Meanwhile, Millwall's draw against Sheffield United allowed seventh place Middlesbrough to close the gap between the clubs to one point.

Despite both Millwall and Fulham suffering draws at the weekend, the clubs have been the Championship's best teams since the turn of the year. Millwall have lost just once in their last 18 matches since New Year's Day, and the Lions are undefeated in their last 17 league fixtures. Fulham haven't lost since December 23, and the Cottagers have gone 21 games without being beaten.

Both clubs have everything to lose and everything to gain in the encounter. A win would move Fulham above Cardiff and back into the automatic promotion places – although Cardiff do have a game in hand. Millwall would move to fifth with a win as the Lions can only realistically finish in either fifth or sixth this term. Due to the gravitas of the match, both sides should come out nervous and both will attempt to limit any mistakes. This could see the game become quite defensive. However, a loss hurts Millwall far more than it would Fulham at this point.

Millwall are the better defensive team. Neil Harris' defence has given up 40 goals, two fewer than Fulham. Meanwhile, Fulham have been the far better attacking side and the Cottagers have racked up 73 goals – the second most in the Championship. Millwall's defence will have to be conscious of Fulham striker Aleksander Mitrovic at all times. The goal machine has scored 10 times since joining Fulham in January on loan. Mitrovic has only appeared in 14 games, but he is regularly on the score sheet. While the Premier League has seen Mitrovic struggle, the striker has carved out a niche in the Championship as one the best goal scorers.

Fulham won the earlier meeting between the clubs, 1-0. However, the game came back in November, before either side had truly hit form. At the time of the loss, Millwall were in the bottom six of the Championship. Five months later, Harris' team are in the top six and looking for an unlikely back-to-back promotion.

With so much at stake and the clubs in similar form, this fixture will end all square. Millwall and Fulham will end 1-1 as both sides attempt to limit mistakes in a highly important fixture.