Fulham v Ipswich
Written by Sammy James on 8th April 2017
Crunch time is well and truly upon us at the Cottage on Saturday with Ipswich the latest obstacle in the hunt for that all important 6th place finish.
Despite shipping four goals for only the second time this season, Tuesday’s defeat at Derby was far from the worst team performance this season. It was a display littered with individual errors which can’t be afford to be repeated in the final six matches.
Ipswich are traditionally a bogey side for Fulham, and our win at Portman Road on Boxing Day was our first win over the Tractor Boys since 1963. It was a comfortable win with Chris Martin and Ragnar Sigurðsson on the scoresheet.
Ipswich have had a strange old season, after going on a run of 28 games without a consecutive result of any kind they’ve now transpired to draw 9 of the past 12 results. They are currently 9 points above the drop zone, which considering the limited resources at Mick McCarthy’s disposal is a minor miracle.
After bad home results against lowly Blackburn and Wolves, the pressure will be on Fulham to get a positive result, and really nothing less than 3 points here would do. Slavisa will hope to capitalise on Ipswich’s poor away record, which has seen them win just 4 times with a measly scoring total of 15 that’s only lowered by Rotherham and Aston Villa.
Their last 5 league results:
- W: Ipswich Town 3-0 Wigan
- D: Ipswich Town 1-1 Birmingham
- L: Cardiff 3-1 Ipswich Town
- D: Barnsley 1-1 Ipswich Town
- D: Ipswich Town 0-0 Barnsley
Fulhamish’s Starting Line-Up:
We expect Chris Martin to come back into the side after missing out against parent club Derby in the win. We’d also advocate a return to the side for Madl after Tim Ream’s shaky display in the week.
We asked you on Twitter whether Slavisa should drop David Button for Marcus Bettinelli after his clangers against Derby. An overwhelming 71% of you said that you’d make a change, however we’d be surprised if Slavisa agrees with the majority this afternoon.
Fulhamish’s Prediction:
We’re notoriously optimistic in these predictions, but this should be a victory for Fulham. With Sheffield Wednesday facing leaders Newcastle it is also essential. Our opponents will keep it very tight, so we’re predicting a narrow and nervy 1-0 win.
Match reaction:
Don’t forget to listen to Monday’s episode of Fulhamish for all the reaction to this game and Tuesday’s defeat at Derby. Subscribe to the podcast on any of the following platforms (others are available):
