Preview:Fulham vs Sunderland - prediction, team news, lineups

Sunderland will be looking to consolidate their place in the top four of the Premier League table when they travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams meet for the first time since February 2023 when Marco Silva’s men claimed a 3-2 away victory in an FA Cup fifth-round replay.

Match preview

Fulham ended a four-game losing run in the Premier League when they eased to a 3-0 home victory over basement club Wolverhampton Wanderers at the beginning of November, but they were unable to register back-to-back wins as they suffered a 2-0 away defeat to Everton before the international break.

The Cottagers are one of only four Premier League teams who are yet to win away from home this season, with their latest loss at Everton representing their fifth defeat on the road and sixth in total in the top flight, leaving them languishing in 15th place and just one point above the relegation zone.

Despite some reports claiming that Fulham’s hierarchy have been weighing up Marco Silva's future following his team's recent poor form, it is understood that the Cottagers are in fact keen to hold talks with the Portuguese - the third current longest-serving manager in the Premier League - over a new contract, with his current deal due to expire at the end of the season.

Fulham will welcome this weekend’s return to Craven Cottage where they have earned 91% of their Premier League points (10/11) - the highest home ratio of any team in the division this season - and are also unbeaten in their last 10 PL games against newly-promoted opponents (W5 D5), winning their last three in a row.

However, the Cottagers have suffered defeat in their last two Premier League home matches against Sunderland, with Saturday’s clash representing the first top-flight encounter between the two teams since a 4-1 victory for the Black Cats in January 2014.

Sunderland have accumulated 19 points in 11 Premier League matches this season (W5 D4 L2) which represents their best return at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1999-00 (23), as well as the best tally by any newly-promoted team since 2008-09, when Hull City collected 20 points in their first 11 games.

The Black Cats extended their unbeaten league run to four matches prior to the international break courtesy of a dramatic 94th-minute equaliser from summer signing Brian Brobbey, who scored his first goal for the club to salvage a point in a 2-2 home draw with leaders Arsenal.

Only Brighton (76%) have scored a higher percentage of their Premier League goals this season in the second half of matches than Sunderland (71% - 10/14). In contrast, this weekend’s opponents Fulham have conceded 69% of their goals in the division after half time (11/16) - the third-most of any team.

Few would have envisaged Sunderland sitting fourth in the Premier League table at the end of November, but Regis Le Bris’s men are there on merit and victory on Saturday would see them move level on points with second-placed Manchester City before they face the Black Cats’ rivals Newcastle a few hours later.

After beating Chelsea 2-1 in October, Sunderland are now looking to win consecutive PL away games in London within the same season for the first time since March 2001. They will also endeavour to avoid losing back-to-back matches against Fulham for the first time since a run of three between 2002 and 2006, after losing their last league game against the Cottagers in the Championship (2-1) in April 2018.

Fulham Premier League form:

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Fulham form (all competitions):

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Sunderland Premier League form:

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Team News

Fulham’s Antonee Robinson remains sidelined with a knee injury and he has been joined in the treatment room by Rodrigo Muniz, who has undergone surgery after injuring his hamstring in the defeat at Everton before the international break.

Sasa Lukic is also ruled out due to suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season last time out, so Alex Iwobi could be tasked with moving into a deeper midfield role alongside Sander Berge.

Josh King and Emile Smith Rowe could therefore battle it out for a start in the number 10 role behind striker Raul Jimenez, who is still searching for his first home goal of the season, while Harry Wilson will hope to retain his starting spot on the right flank after scoring a hat-trick for Wales earlier this week.

As for Sunderland, Habib Diarra (groin) and Aji Alese (shoulder) remain sidelined, while Saturday’s game will also come too soon for Dennis Cirkin (wrist), Romaine Mundle (hamstring) and Leo Hjelde (Achilles) who have all been building up their fitness with the academy sides.

Le Bris has confirmed that Reinildo Mandava is “fine” despite withdrawing from the Mozambique squad with hamstring discomfort, while Omar Alderete will be assessed after missing the last three games with concussion.

Star performer and captain Granit Xhaka is expected to continue in centre-midfield alongside Noah Sadiki, while Simon Adingra and Chemsdine Talbi will be pushing to start ahead of Bertrand Traore and Enzo Le Fee on the flanks.

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon; Iwobi, Berge; Wilson, King, Kevin; Jimenez

Sunderland possible starting lineup:

Roefs; Hume, Mukiele, Ballard, Geertruida, Reinildo; Xhaka, Sadiki; Traore, Isidor, Le Fee

We say: Fulham 0-1 Sunderland

Fulham have looked stronger playing in front of their own supporters this season, but they have not blown teams away in the final third and they may struggle to break down a fairly robust Sunderland backline that has conceded only five goals in as many away matches. We are backing the Black Cats to build on their positive start to the campaign and claim a slender win at Craven Cottage.

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