Teams in brief: Fulham shake it up
Marco Silva makes four changes to the side that lost 2-0 at Anfield. Sasa Lukic is ready for his first start in three months, but he does not resume his partnership with Sander Berge, who drops to the bench as Tom Cairney comes in. Lukic’s return allows Alex Iwobi to advance forward again. He will be cutting in from the left to join Emile Smith Rowe, who replaces Josh King as the number 10. At left-back, Ryan Sessegnon is preferred over Antonee Robinson.
Teams in brief: no surprises for Brentford
Keith Andrews decides there is no reason to change a drawing team. It is a strong XI but, with Jordan Henderson still ruled out by an unnamed injury, the bench appears somewhat limited.
Morning everyone and welcome to a feast of a weekend in the Premier League. There is much more on the menu than a mere title decider. There is the Merseyside derby, with Everton at home in their new stadium and, for once, in better shape than Liverpool. There is Spurs, in spectacular disarray, taking on Brighton, the best team in the league over the past two months. There is Chelsea, who have not scored against a top-flight club for five weeks, facing Manchester United, who seem to have mislaid all their centre-backs.
And first there is Brentford v Fulham, which is more appetising than it may seem. It is not just a local derby – it is a six-pointer that will influence who qualifies for Europe. If Brentford win, they will move from seventh to sixth, above Chelsea, and, if only for a few hours, these quiet over-achievers will be lording it over west London. If Fulham win, they will jump from 12th to ninth and draw level on points with Brentford.
The biggest threat on either side is obviously Igor Thiago, the Haaland of the south. But he may face a challenge because the past three games between these sides have all ended with a win for Brentford. In the reverse fixture, Brentford took an early lead, only to be overwhelmed by three goals in six minutes before half-time. One of those goals was scored by Harry Wilson, who consistently troubles Brentford defenders. As my colleague Taha Hashim pointed out yesterday, Wilson has four goals in his past 118 minutes against these opponents.
However, that last meeting was seven months ago, before Brentford had gained momentum under Keith Andrews. At that time, Brentford were 17th, while Fulham were eighth (just above Manchester City), Spurs were third and Liverpool were the runaway leaders. This season has shown that every team is fallible, even the team that has been top for months. This reality makes almost every game interesting.
