FOOTBALL LEAGUE fan James Potter (@thebettingdesk) oversees the televised Friday night showdown as Fulham face Bournemouth.
Fulham vs Bournemouth | Friday 3rd December 2021, 19:45 | Sky Sports
A huge game at the top of the Championship as Fulham welcome Bournemouth to Craven Cottage in front of the cameras for Friday’s night’s game under the floodlights live on Sky Sports. Scott Parker makes his return to his former club where he left when they were relegated back to the second tier, and I think he will be looking for a performance over his previous employers.
Neither side come into this contest in great form. The hosts have had two disappointing draws against Derby and Preston whilst the Cherries have won just one of their last five games with defeats to Derby & Preston, drawing with Millwall and were pegged back for another draw last time out after being 2-0 up with Coventry.
There is no need to panic for either side as they sit seven points above 3rd place QPR and have won 13 times between them from their 20 respective home and away games with just two defeats between them. These two sides sit first and second for most goals scored and have the joint best defensive records with just 11 goals conceded between them in their 20 joint home and away games.
The Cherries have only conceded in three away games but have conceded four of their five goals in their last two away fixtures and with both Jefferson Lerma and Chris Mepham suspended there will need to be a reshuffle. Gary Cahill could come in if he is fit or Leif Davies, another alternative is to shift to a back four which would result in the Cherries losing numbers in the middle of the park.
Fulham have no such issues and I am expecting to see an unchanged side which means that Aleksandar Mitrovic will lead the line supported by Neeskens Kebano, Harry Wilson and Fabio Carvalho.
As I have mentioned these two sides sit at the top of the scoring charts in the division with 85 goals between the, which is an average of 2.2 goals each per game. Mitrovic and Dominic Solanke have 35 goals between them, and I can’t see this game ending 0-0 (famous last words).
The referee on Friday night is worthy of note here. Tim Robinson is the man in charge, and he will love being in the TV. So far this season when taking charge of Championship games, he has handed out 4.86 cards per game and both teams to receive a card has landed in his las five games and 10 of his 14 games this term.
Fulham have collected at card in 50% of their home matches and seen their visitors collect a card in 90%. The Cherries pick up at least a card in 80% of their games on the road and their hosts a card in 70%. We can take both teams to receive a card and both teams to score at 107/100 with Bet365 Bet Builder.
With both sides happy to take a point a move onto the next game, especially with recent games not going their way I am happy to take the odds-on offer for the game to end all square with Marathon offering us 71/25.
It will be silly to overlook the two main goal scorers for both sides especially as they have 35 goals between them. Mitrovic scoring 48% of Fulham’s goals and Solanke 35% of Bournemouth’s goals. We can back both players to find the net at 13/2 with Betfair.
Best Bets
Fulham vs Bournemouth – Both Teams To Score and Both Teams Over 0 Cards (107/100 Bet365)
Fulham vs Bournemouth – Draw (71/25 Marathon)
Fulham vs Bournemouth – Dominc Solanke and Aleksandar Mitrovic to both score (13/2 Betfair)
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Today game