Fulham vs Crystal Palace

Super Sunday has thrown up a London derby between Fulham and Crystal Palace and whilst it’s not a fixture that immediately catches the eye, a repeat of the nine goals scored at Craven Cottage on Tuesday night would go some way to entertaining viewers. 

Fulham to win, Samuel Chukwueze to score & Joachim Andersen o0.5 shots

Fulham to win
With Palace having won here twice last season across league and cup and coming into the game eight places above their visitors, you’d be forgiven for thinking we’d be backing the Eagles to win. However, the Cottagers have a decent record on their own patch where they’ve only been beaten by Arsenal and Man City and have won four of their other five. They’ll be buoyed by their late fightback in midweek and with an extra day’s rest over the Eagles, they should be the fresher or the two sides.

Fatigue could be a key factor in deciding the outcome of this game as this will be Palace’s fifth game in the last 15 days and with another Europa Conference League trip to prepare for on Thursday, the games are coming thick and fast. Manager Oliver Glasner has been vocal about a lack of investment in the squad making it difficult to rotate and after along journey home late on Wednesday evening, their preparations look far from ideal. 

Samuel Chukwueze to score anytime
If Fulham are to capitalise on Palace’s tired legs, they’ll likely be looking to Samuel Chukwueze to do the damage in attack. The Nigerian winger bagged a brace from the bench against Man City in midweek and having finished both chances emphatically, if he gets a chance on Sunday afternoon, we can bank on him finishing it. He’s been keen to impress at the start of his loan spell from AC Milan, firing off 3.93 shots per 90 and if he gets the nod to start, that sort of shot volume makes his price to find the back of the net a generous one. 

Joachim Andersen o0.5 shots
As Fulham’s biggest aerial threat from set pieces, Joachim Andersen regularly gets his head on the end of corners and wide free kicks to direct them goalwards. The Big Dane is averaging 0.48 shots per 90 this season which is healthy enough for a centre back and on home soil that average jumps up to 0.62. He also has the added motivation of this being a game against his old club and that incentive has led to him landing this bet in all four of his previous appearances against Palace, during which he’s pulled the trigger a massive 11 times. 

Despite being one of the best sides in the Premier League when it comes to attacking set plays, Oliver Glasner’s side are less adept at defending them as they’re giving up over four shots from such situations per game this season. Only five teams in the top division are conceding more and given that Andersen is Fulham’s target for first contact on every restart, he should be able to produce at least one effort at goal.