Predicted Fulham Lineup To Face Derby County In The EFL Championship
Fulham continue their tough run of fixtures this weekend when they travel away from home to face Derby County at Pride Park. The Fulham dressing room will be riding high after an epic victory against Wolves last weekend, and they will want to back that result up with a win against another promotion chasing side, to push themselves closer to the automatic promotion places.
It has been said many times this season that Fulham play the best football in the league, but only recently has their form and league position begun to reflect that. After this, Slavisa Jokanovic and his team will fear no one, and they will be confident that they have enough time to get themselves up to at least 2nd in the table. Although Fulham sit 8 points behind Cardiff with 12 games to go, it is possible.
Team News
Floyd Ayite revealed this week that he met with a specialist to realign his body to help him deal with his recent injury woes, and he is fit to start against Derby. Fulham have no bad news from the treatment room, and on the pitch, it will be difficult to dislodge the team that started against Wolves, although Cyrus Christie and Oliver Norwood would like to take their places. Lucas Piazon wasn’t even on the bench against Wolves and is still an option for Jokanovic.
Probable Fulham XI
Formation: 4-3-3
GK – Marcus Bettinelli
The Fulham goalkeeper didn’t have that much to do against Wolves, but what he did do was he performed with confidence.
LB – Matt Targett
The improvement of Fulham with Matt Targett in the team has been really quite clear. He was the man of the match last time out and Jokanovic will keep faith with him here.
CB – Tim Ream
The American put in a towering performance against Wolves and will have to be on his toes against a Derby team that has scored 5 in its previous 2 games.
CB – Tomas Kalas
A calm and experienced defender, Kalas will head everything away and is also good on the ball. He will be dealing with the Championship’s top striker in Matej Vydra, but he will be confident of handling him.
RB – Ryan Fredericks
The young right-back is a part of the crop of players who are making their marks in a Fulham jersey. He will aim to link up with Floyd Ayite and run past him when he can.
CM – Stefan Johansen
He quietly had one of the best games I have seen in a Fulham shirt, last weekend. He was a constant threat in the attack while being solid when Wolves came forward. Provided an assist and almost scored a wonder goal of his own.
CM – Kevin McDonald
The Scotsman is so good at doing the hard work to allow his teammates to shine. He ran his socks off against Wolves, and will be expected to do the same again.
CM – Tom Cairney
This talented player may well not be at Fulham for that much longer, but he will spend that time showing the Fulham faithful what he can do. The Derby central midfielders are both over 30 so he will use his pace to cause them problems.
LW – Ryan Sessegnon
The wonder kid continues to impress after bagging a goal against top of the table Wolves in the previous game. The Derby fullbacks will have a hell of a job on their hands to keep this one quiet.
ST – Aleksandar Mitrovic
The big Serbian has a point to prove with Fulham, and he has definitely been proving it so far. He has scored 2 goals in his last 2 games and will try and keep this run going.
RW – Floyd Ayite
Had a good 64 minutes against Wolves before he was substituted for Sheyi Ojo. He will need to use his pace against the Derby back line in order to make an impact in this game.