Stadium royalty & European ambitions: a full guide to Fulham

Match previews

21 Jun 2023

Crystal Palace are back at Selhurst Park on Saturday, 23rd September (15:00 BST) as they welcome Fulham to south London – find out all you need to know about our visitors below…

Factfile

Manager: Marco Silva
Last season: 10th
Nickname: The Cottagers
Ground: Craven Cottage
Founded: 1879 (144 years ago)

What’s the story?

After a turbulent transfer window, Fulham will be glad to turn their full focus back to the weekly grind of Premier League action with a settled and – given the circumstances – ambitious squad.

With speculation around the future of manager Marco Silva quashed, the visitors were rocked by the departure of Aleksandar Mitrović to Saudi side Al Hilal, after six successful seasons at the club scoring 111 goals. They looked poised to lose talismanic defensive midfielder João Palhinha, too, before a deal to sell the Brazilian to Bayern Munich collapsed at the last minute.

On the pitch, results have been mixed – but there are positive signs. The club have kept Willian, added Raúl Jiménez, Adama Traoré, Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi, and victories against Tottenham Hotspur and Everton this season have demonstrated their quality. Even more telling was their recovery from a goal down away at Arsenal recently, despite playing the final 20 minutes with 10 men.

A 5-1 defeat at Manchester City was humbling, although VAR controversy surrounding City’s second goal will still rankle with the game finely balanced heading into half-time.

Now, with a tough run approaching – including fixtures against Spurs, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea by the start of November – Fulham must show the same fight and determination that secured them a top-half finish last season.

The boss

Marco Silva’s confidence in his Fulham project was underlined when he turned down a series of enormously lucrative approaches from Saudi Arabia this summer, determined to improve on last season’s top-half finish. This is his seventh season in the English game, having managed Hull City, Watford and Everton in the past.

Transfers

Raúl Jiménez (Wolves)
Calvin Bassey (Ajax)
Adama Traoré (Wolves)
Timothy Castagne (Leicester City)
Steven Benda (Swansea City)
Alex Iwobi (Everton)
Fodé Ballo-Touré (AC Milan, loan)

OUT

Shane Duffy (Norwich)
Paulo Gazzaniga (Girona)
Neeskens Kebano (Al Jazira)
Steven Sessegnon (Wigan Athletic)
Ivan Cavaleiro (Lille)
Aleksandar Mitrović (Al Hilal)
Anthony Knockaert (Valenciennes)

Record against Palace

Palace won three consecutive games against Fulham between 2018 and 2020 but haven’t earned three points since.

Boxing Day last season saw Palace reduced to nine men in a fiery encounter at Selhurst Park, while sunnier skies prevailed in May at Craven Cottage as Joel Ward’s late equaliser saw the Eagles claim a point.

Next five [Premier League]

2nd Oct: Chelsea (H)
7th Oct: Sheff Utd (H)
23rd Oct: Spurs (A)
29th Oct: Brighton (A)
4th Nov: Man Utd (H)

Did you know?

Fulham were founded by worshippers as St Andrew’s Church Sunday School in 1879 – just 18 years after Crystal Palace – and began their days in the local West London League, initially sporting shirts of half red and half white.

They moved to their current Craven Cottage ground in 1896, a stadium steeped in history. The cottage itself was built in 1780 by William Craven, the sixth Baron Craven, and stood on the old hunting grounds of Anne Boleyn; Queen Victoria, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Florence Nightingale are among the famous names reputed to have stayed there.

Match details

Saturday, 23rd September
15:00 BST
Selhurst Park
Live audio commentary on Palace TV+

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