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Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham

BPL 2018-19 – Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham Match Preview



Matchday 2 is about to be underway this weekend and we have a good one here. A London derby between Tottenham and newly promoted Fulham. Tottenham have gotten off to a good start with a win and will look to make it two out of two as they take on Fulham who got off to a losing start against Palace. Could we possibly see Fulham stun Tottenham or will they add on to their great start at Wembley? Let’s get into the preview a little deeper.


Tottenham Hotspur


Well, this is Tottenham’s first “home” game of the season. With the new stadium being delayed, Tottenham will play their first home game of the season at Wembley which is where they’ve been playing the past year. It doesn’t seem to be so much of a problem playing home games at Wembley as Spurs are used to it now so we should expect them to look good in the home opener. Tottenham started the season with a good win away from home beating Newcastle 1-2 in a heavily contested match up. It was not an easy win for Spurs, all goals game within the first twenty minutes and from then on Tottenham just held on to the lead. Harry Kane is yet to break his goal scoring duck in August as he failed to get on the scoresheet again, but Tottenham didn’t need his contributions as Vertonghen and Alli’s goals were enough for them to win. Many worried about the potential lack of fitness from the players back from the world cup, but it didn’t seem like it was a problem as Tottenham were able to field a fully fit side and most key players looked good.


Now coming up against Fulham, anything less than a win would be considered as failure. Tottenham are coming into this game as a much better team and a team that has players who are well adapted to playing with each other while their opponents have many new players so it’s kinda of a perfect time for Tottenham to play Fulham and we shouldn’t be surprised if they put a few goals past them and win comfortably which is what their fans would want. Tottenham must make sure they don’t underestimate Fulham however, they have to come out hitting full cylinders and it’s important they get an early goal because then the game could open up for them. Spurs must get Harry Kane to finally score, this strange goal scoring drought in August really is becoming weird, but given that Tottenham will probably create a lot of chances, surely we’ll see Kane finally get on the scoresheet in a game in August.


In terms of team news, everyone seems healthy at Tottenham but we may see some squad rotation as Pochettino has insisted he may rotate players early in the season. The main ones like Alli, Kane, Lloris, Vertonghen etc should all be in the starting lineup however. We may see Dembele and Trippier get back into the starting lineup as well. Expect an attacking minded side being fielded by Tottenham as they will be on the front foot for the most of the game.


Fulham


It’s not been the start to their return to the Premier League that Fulham wanted. They started off with a disappointing loss at home to Crystal Palace 0-2. Although they lost, they did control possession and had more shots but essentially Palace’s finishing was the difference. It’s pretty understandable why Fulham have gotten off to a losing start and may have problems early in the season because given the amounts of signings they have made, it’s now a process to implement all of these news players into the system. This is going to be a huge game for Fulham against Tottenham, it’s their first facing a top 6 side in the new Premier League season and this game has came quite early and maybe even at a wrong time for Fulham because their chances are low and another loss may start putting pressure on them as it’s quite likely they’ll end up with no points after 2 games. Sure, talent wise Fulham have a nice squad on paper and they will cause Tottenham a few problems but as a team they are not quite as good yet.


Expect Fulham to be on back foot in this game for the most part, they’ll have an odd attack here and there and will create a few chances but essentially you have to think that Fulham will be surrendering possession and will create a lot less chances than Tottenham. Mitrovic will be a huge key for Fulham here because he wont get many chances, he may only get like one chance and he must take it because if he doesn’t take his chances, playing against Tottenham you’ll get punished right away. Defensively, the whole backline and the keeper must be on it as Tottenham have one of the most powerful attack forces and are very dangerous from set pieces so Fulham can’t afford any lapses of concentration at the back.


Looking at team news, we can expect Fulham to field a similar squad to the one in opening day. It’s a possibility than the new signing Anguissa will make his debut for Fulham but other than that the lineup is expected to be the same. Alfie Mawson is still out for Fulham but they still will have Chambers, Le Marchand and Fosu Mensah to choose from at CB. Other than Mawson, everyone is pretty much fit to start and will be ready to go if called upon.


What To Expect


We can expect a few goals, mainly from Tottenham. Tottenham are heavily favoured here and we would struggle to disagree with that. Tottenham are just a much better side with players who are used to playing with each other for a few years now and they are at home. There is a chance that Fulham could give them a tough game as on paper they are a really good side and maybe if they catch some good form on the day they could steal something but we highly doubt that’ll happen. We expect Kane to finally break his duck in August and Tottenham to dominate this game and pick up a comfortable 2-0 win. Tottenham to win to nil, Harry Kane anytime goal scorer and a -1.5 Tottenham asian handicap at seems like good bets for this game.




Match Odds (Tonybet)


Tottenham Win – 1.27


Draw – 6.20


Fulham Win – 12.25



KICK OFF – 18th August 2018 – 3pm UK Time

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