Fulham face Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon in a game that they may well fancy winning at Craven Cottage.
Not only are Fulham currently above Newcastle in the league, but the Magpies’ are also currently in the middle of something of an injury crisis with Allan Saint-Maximin and Alexander Isak out and Bruno Guimaraes a doubt.
Fulham themselves have issues. Manor Solomon and Harry Wilson are out, Antonee Robinson is a bit of a doubt while Joao Palhinha is suspended for this one after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Nottingham Forest.
However, Fulham have coped with injuries all year long, and they may well be slight favourites heading into this match.
With that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting Fulham’s starting XI for this one.
We think that Marco Silva will make two changes from the team that beat Forest a fortnight ago.
Palhinha drops out due to suspension, and we think that Silva will use quite a creative solution to replace his star man.
Bobby Decordova-Reid moves centrally, Andreas Pereira drops back and Harrison Reed occupies the number six role despite getting himself one the scoresheet last time out.
Therefore, the man who is replacing Palhinha in this XI is Dan James as he starts on the left with Willian down the right.
Meanwhile there is a change in the defence as well. Tim Ream moves back into his preferred central defensive role after a decent outing at left-back against Forest, as Antonee Robinson returns to the XI and Issa Diop drops to the bench.
There are no prizes for guessing who leads the line as Aleksandar Mitrovic starts up top.
This should be one of the most entertaining and tightly-contested games of the weekend.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
