Preview: Fulham vs Wolverhampton Wanderers - prediction, team news, lineups

Two Premier League teams struggling at the wrong end of the table do battle at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon as Fulham play host to basement club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Cottagers beat Wolves 2-1 at Molineux in their last league meeting in February and only once in their history have they ever won back-to-back matches against the Old Gold, doing so in the second tier back in October 1908.

Match preview

Fulham have struggled to build on their 11th-placed finish in the Premier League last season and find themselves down in 17th spot after winning only two of their opening nine matches this term, hovering just three points above the relegation zone.

No current Premier League team are enduring a longer losing run than the Cottagers, who have suffered defeat in each of their last four matches - they have not had a longer losing streak within the same season since losing nine games in a row between February and April in the 2018-19 campaign.

After coming up short in defeats to Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Arsenal, Marco Silva’s men looked on course to claim a point in last weekend’s clash with Newcastle United at St James’ Park, until they conceded their third 90th-minute goal of the season to lose 2-1. Fulham have conceded 23 winners in the 90th minute of games in PL history, with only Tottenham (27) and Aston Villa (26) ever conceding more.

Fulham managed to stop the rot in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, but only just as they had goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte to thank for saving three penalties in a 5-4 shootout victory over League One outfit Wycombe Wanderers following a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes of their fourth-round tie.

Silva and co will welcome a return to Craven Cottage this weekend, as they have collected seven of their eight PL points on home soil this season. However, they have failed to win any of their last five top-flight home matches against teams starting the day in the relegation zone (D3 L2), with one of those seeing them put to the sword 4-1 by Wolves in November last season.

Wolves are the only team yet to win in the Premier League this season after collecting just two points from their first nine matches (D2 L7). The Old Gold failed to win their opening 10 games last season (D3 L7) and no side in top-flight history has ever started successive seasons with 10 winless games.

Molineux became a hostile environment last weekend as Wolves suffered a disappointing 3-2 home defeat to newly-promoted Burnley, who scored a dramatic 95th-minute winner to leave the Old Gold rooted to the foot of the table and six points adrift of safety.

Vitor Pereira’s men have since been eliminated from the EFL Cup after they were beaten 4-3 by 10-man Chelsea in a thrilling West Midlands encounter on Wednesday. Three first-half strikes helped the Blues reach the quarter-finals, despite a hectic second half in which David Moller Wolfe (2) and Tolu Arokodare scored for Wolves, with Jamie Gittens settling the tie for Chelsea with a long-range worldie.

Wolves can now focus on attempting to turn their Premier League fortunes around, with Pereira seeking to avoid becoming the first manager since Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder between February and May 2024 to go 14 games without a win in the division - Pereira’s 13-game winless streak (D3 L10) in the longest for a Wolves boss since Gary O’Neil (also 13) between May and November 2024.

The Old Gold can at least take some encouragement from their record against Saturday’s opponents Fulham, having won eight of their 18 Premier League meetings (D6 L4), only beating Southampton and Tottenham (nine each) more often in the division.

Fulham Premier League form:

W W L L L L

Fulham form (all competitions):

W L L L L W

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:

L L D D L L

Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):

W D D L L L

Team News

Fulham’s Antonee Robinson (knee) remains sidelined, but Silva has confirmed that Joachim Andersen (hamstring), Rodrigo Muniz (muscle), Samuel Chukwueze (calf), Emile Smith Rowe (thigh) and Harry Wilson (knock) are all in contention to return, but Raul Jimenez (groin) is a doubt.

Should former Wolves striker Jimenez miss out, Muniz could lead the line if he is deemed fit to start. Club-record signing Kevin is another contender to start down the middle, while Adama Traore - another ex-Wolves man - and Alex Iwobi are set to continue on the flanks.

Despite his midweek heroics between the sticks, Lecomte is set to be replaced in goal by Bernd Leno, while full-backs Kenny Tete and Ryan Sessegnon are expected to be recalled to join centre-backs Calvin Bassey and either Andersen or Issa Diop in a four-man defence.

As for Wolves, teenage forward Leon Chiwome remains sidelined with a long-term knee injury, while Matt Doherty (knee) and Rodrigo Gomes (groin) have also been ruled out after they were both forced off against Chelsea in midweek.

Ladislav Krejci is expected to earn a recall in defence alongside Santiago Bueno, and Jackson Tchatchoua is set to start at right-back at the expense of Doherty, while Jhon Arias, Fer Lopez and Hwang Hee-chan will all be in contention to start in attack in the absence of Rodrigo Gomes.

Jorgen Strand Larsen scored his first Premier League goal of the season in last weekend’s defeat to Burnley and he is expected to lead the line once again, with Tolu Arokodare providing cover as a substitute.

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon; Berge, Lukic; Traore, King, Iwobi; Muniz

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Johnstone; Tchatchoua, S. Bueno, Krejci, H. Bueno; Munetsi, Andre, J. Gomes; Arias, Strand Larsen, Hwang

We say: Fulham 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

There is very little to separate these two out-of-form teams, so a closely-contested battle could be on the cards this weekend. The absence of a few key players for Fulham might give Wolves a slight edge, but we still expect the hosts to come away with at least a share of the spoils from what could prove to be a frustrating afternoon for both sides.

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