You'll know from the other thread that Cairney is out for a while. As is Kebano, with Ream and Ayite still sidelined. Alfie Mawson, after his fine display on Tuesday night, is however in contention for a place. As for Brighton, well we won't see David Button nor regrettably VAR. More's the pity on the latter 'cos Brighton have barely changed since their and our time in the Championship. The perennial Murray is still up to his tricks and the pouting Knockaert his levitation. However, in Chris Hughton they have one canny manager, who knows how not to lose - especially at The Amex. They'll be organised and have a defensive structure, playing 4-4-1-1. But quick on the break with Gross, back in the side having missed last weekend's game at Liverpool, pulling the creative strings. For us, there are only two questions. Firstly does Mawson come straight in after little or no game time and who would partner him? It's the partnership thing that's perhaps the main issue. Le Marchand has done well at left side CB but there's the rub - Mawson is also left side. Chambers has yet to put in a consistent 90 minutes and Odoi is ... well Odoi, reliable but with his moments of madness. Suspect, Mawson might appear on the bench for this one. Secondly, who comes in for Cairney? Anguissa is arguably more of the defensive than offensive sort, although when he came on against Burnley he showed his attacking skills (a little less so on Tuesday night). The other option is Johansen but with the Captain's arm band on Tuesday night he didn't exactly shine. So, going for: ..........................Bettinelli.......... .Fosu-Mensah..Odoi..Le Marchand..Bryan.. ........................McDonald.... .............Anguissa...........Seri.... ......Vietto..........Mitrovic....Schurrle...
It's 4 Kits Fulham and BLUE isn't the colour. Away to Spurs we wore last year's RED third kit. Tomorrow away to Brighton it's .... please log in to view this image
The man in the middle today is Lee Probert. Probert sat out all of season 2015/16 with some sort of injury. When he came back in 2017 it was to the Championship and we remember well the game he took against Leeds at the Cottage. For a couple of things at the very least. First up, Neeskens Kebano unleashed a fierce drive on the edge of Leeds’ box that crashed off the bar and down. No 'goal line' technology then and referee Lee Probert refused to give the goal despite replays indicating the ball had crossed the line on its way down. Link to replay: http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/10794291/did-fulhams-strike-cross-the-line Probert went on to book 6 players; 3 from each side as well as sending off a Leeds man. The second thing, that will be remembered was the stunning Tom Cairney equaliser in the last minute. Probert's other memorable moment with us came when, in a game against Wigan, Steve Sidwell squashed him and Probert gave himself a red card. And on cards, just for the record, last season in the Premiership in 29 game he handed out a measily 57 yellows and a healthy 5 reds.
Two changes, with Anguissa replacing Cairney and Mawson coming in for Bryan (and shifting Le Marchand to left back). Anguissa makes a lot of sense away from home, but Bryan being dropped is slightly surprising. Bryan looked really good against Palace but he did pick up an injury and was subdued (and substituted) against Burnley. It will be intriguing to see if Le Marchand can really compete for that LB spot.
What if, what if !!! We gift them two goals and drop two points. And a certain Mitro goes from hero to zero PS Would have taken a point before the game to be honest.
