Premier League: Leeds Need Big Changes at Craven Cottage

Fulham vs Leeds United

Leeds United’s fight for their Premier League lives continues. Javi Gracia’s side has suffered heavy losses in back-to-back home games as they remain dangerously close to the relegation zone.

The Whites will look to lift themselves from their perilous position as they travel to west London to face Fulham.

The Cottagers actually helped Leeds’ Premier League 2023 odds of survival by beating relegation strugglers Everton to snap their four-game losing skid. But can they do the Whites another favour by handing them a much-needed win at Craven Cottage?

Talking Points

Fulham finally snap losing skid

Fulham’s hopes of finishing in the European places suffered a major blow after a disastrous run of Premier League 2023 results that saw them lose four games in a row.

However, they finally snapped that skid as they defeated relegation strugglers Everton 3-1 last weekend. It was the first time Fulham have scored three goals in a Premier League game since a 3-0 win against a nine-man Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.

Scoring goals has been a struggle for Fulham, especially with the absence of top marksman Aleksandr Mitrovic due to his eight-game suspension for pushing a referee.

With Carlos Vinicius unable to deliver goals, Marco Silva started Daniel James at centre-forward against Everton, which turned out to be a brilliant move. The Welsh winger proceeded to have his best game of the season as he had a goal and an assist and also hit the woodwork once.

However, James will be unavailable to play against Leeds, who are his parent club, so Silva will need to find another solution at striker.

While James is out, Silva can still call upon another Welsh winger in Harry Wilson, who, like James, got a goal and hit the woodwork in their win against Everton.

Leeds need to respond after heavy home defeats

It’s going from bad to worse for Leeds United. The Whites have lost three of their last four games, with heavy defeats at Arsenal (4-1) and back-to-back home batterings at the hands of Crystal Palace (1-5) and Liverpool (1-6).

As it stands, Leeds are in 16th place, just two points out of the relegation zone with seven games to play.

Javi Gracia was brought in to solidify the Leeds defence, but he is seemingly unable to find any answers as the Whites continue to ship goals at an alarming rate. After their recent heavy defeats, Leeds now have the worst defensive record in the Premier League with 60 goals conceded.

Leeds’ defensive decline has coincided with defensive midfielder Tyler Adams’ absence due to a hamstring injury, which required surgery. Adams is still not ready to return, so Marc Roca and Weston McKennie are likely to remain the central midfield partnership.

Those defensive issues have only exacerbated the attacking problems that have plagued Leeds for most of the season. Leading scorer Rodrigo (11 goals) finally made his first start in seven games, but he was unable to make much of an impact.

Patrick Bamford, who is in a bit of form with two goals in his last four starts, missed the Liverpool match due to a calf injury, but he could be back to lead the line against Fulham.

Leeds have a poor away record this season, with just two wins and 10 defeats in 15 games.

History

Leeds and Fulham are currently tied at four wins apiece in the Premier League era, with one draw over nine meetings.

The Cottagers were able to pull level after their 3-2 win at Elland Road in their first meeting of the season back in October. Rodrigo opened the scoring, but goals from Mitrovic, Bobby Decordova-Reid and Willian powered the Cottagers’ comeback.

Fulham also came out on top in their FA Cup fifth-round tie back in February. Joao Palhinha and Manor Solomon got the goals in that comfortable win at Craven Cottage.

Betting Tip 

Despite the sizable gap between the two clubs in the standings, SBOTOP odds for this match are still quite close. Fulham are installed as narrow 2.36 favourites to beat Leeds, who are priced at 2.68. A draw is 3.30.

Clearly, this match means much more to Leeds than it does to Fulham, who have little left to play for this season. While Everton were unable to capitalise, Leeds stood a better chance of hurting the Cottagers, especially with Dan James unavailable.

Look for Leeds to pick up at least a point on their visit to west London, and even a win is not entirely out of the question.

 

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