Fulham v. Crystal Palace: Both sides chasing first points of the season

Fulham will host Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage on Saturday, with both teams looking to bounce back after two league losses.

Both sides have lost their first two league games of the season and will be eager to move themselves away from the relegation zone with a win.

Fulham have won this season, beating AFC Wimbledon 3-0 in the second round of the Carabao Cup.

This followed an entertaining 3-2 home loss to Chelsea but preceded the disappointing 1-0 loss to Sunderland.

Palace meanwhile lost 2-0 to Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on the opening weekend, and then 1-4 at home to Manchester City the following Friday.

Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa will hope new midfielder Manuel Angel can also hit the ground running.

Angel said it would be a real privilege to work with Arbeloa again after being coached by him as a youth player at Real Madrid.

"It is an incredible feeling to have signed for such a legendary club as Fulham": Angel told reporters after completing his move from Madrid on Wednesday.

Head-to-Head Record

Despite their team's troubling start to the season, Crystal Palace fans can take encouragement from the side's excellent recent record against Fulham.

In addition to their 2-1 victory over the Cottagers in pre-season, Palace are unbeaten in their last four competitive games against Saturday's opponents.

Goals from Eddie Nketiah and Marc Guehi sealed victory for the visitors in this fixture last season, before Tom Cairney's goal cancelled out Jean-Philippe Mateta's opener when the pair met at Selhurst Park in January.

Fulham's last win over Palace was a 2-0 victory at Selhurst Park in November 2024, courtesy of goals from Emile Smith Rowe and Harry Wilson.

Team News

Fulham are expected to be without club captain Tom Cairney until October, as he continues to recover from a minor knee surgery performed last month.

Newly signed loanee Hugo Larsson is also expected to miss out due to muscular problems.

Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage has seen his squad blighted by injuries since he joined the club during pre-season.

Attacking midfielder Ismaila Sarr has missed his side's opening two league games with a groin injury, first reported in the build-up to Palace's opening match against Everton.

Last Friday, Mateta joined Palace's injury list when he strained his hamstring while preparing for his side's home game against City.

Sage told the media this morning that apart from our long-term injuries, Chadi and Mateta, every other player has recovered well.

Predicted Line-Ups

Fulham (4-2-3-1): Bernd Leno, Antonee Robinson, Calvin Bassey, Joachim Andersen, Timothy Castagne, Sander Berge, Manuel Angel, Cesar Palacios, Josh King, Alex Iwobi, Gonzalo Garcia.

Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1): Dean Henderson, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Chris Richards, Jaydee Canvot, Tyrick Mitchell, Daichi Kamada, Adam Wharton, Oscar Mingueza, Dwight McNeil, Evann Guessand, Eddie Nketiah.

Match Prediction

Fulham have looked better going forward than Palace so far this season, and almost certainly have too much quality to be sucked into a relegation fight.

Palace meanwhile will be seriously hampered by injuries, and could struggle to manage their squad when balancing their Premier League and Europa League campaigns.

Fulham's record against Palace is worrying, but they should have enough to secure three points this time.