Runaway Championship league leaders Fulham face-off against fellow promotion-chasers Blackburn on Saturday afternoon. Mark O’Haire previews the encounter.
“Mowbray’s troops have conceded just nine goals in 18 Championship matches since their humbling 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Fulham in the reverse”
Mitrovic fires Fulham to victory, again
Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic continued his record-breaking form to score his 34th league goal of the season and earn the Cottagers a 1-0 win at Cardiff last weekend. The Serbian headed into the far corner of the net from Harry Wilson’s pinpoint cross as the Whites consolidated their 11-point advantage over third-placed Huddersfield.
In truth, Fulham never needed to be at their blistering best, with Mitrovic – as he has been so often this term – the difference-maker. Goalkeeper Marek Rodak was called on to make one vital stop, but the Cottagers were largely comfortable in the Welsh capital with manager Marco Silva pleased to depart with another three points.
He said: “It’s always tough to come here to play. We know that it is a game that demands from us always. We controlled the match; we were the best team on the pitch and we deserved the three points. But nothing is finished. Nobody can achieve anything by the end of February. We didn’t achieve anything yet and we must keep going to achieve our aims.”
Blackburn end goal drought
Reda Khadra scored Blackburn‘s first league goal in more than nine hours to clinch a crucial 1-0 victory over play-off rivals QPR last Saturday. The on-loan Brighton ace curled in a 77th-minute free-kick from a tight angle to give dominant Rovers a deserved home win after twice missing opportunities to put the hosts in front in a buzzing first-half at Ewood Park.
Tony Mowbray‘s team were on the front foot from the off, creating chances but were unable to turn their dominance into goals without injured top-scorer Ben Brereton Diaz. However, despite visiting goalkeeper David Marshall’s best efforts, Rangers’ resistance eventually broke as Blackburn scored with their seventh on-target effort of the match.
Tyrhys Dolan was excellent on his first start since November, although Ryan Nyambe went off with injury and is expected to be out for a few weeks, joining Bradley Dack, Ian Poveda and Brereton Diaz on the sidelines. Blackburn remain hopeful that influential midfielder Joe Rothwell will be able to feature in Saturday’s showdown having missed the QPR match.
Blackburn have endured a difficult recent run against Fulham with Rovers pocketing just one win in their last seven meetings with the Cottagers (W1-D1-L5) – that includes a 7-0 shellacking by the Whites in the reverse encounter at Ewood Park back in November. The Whites boast a W4-D2-L1 in record in recent head-to-head duels at Craven Cottage.
Fulham 1.558/15 have claimed eight wins from 10 Championship outings since Christmas (W8-D1-L1), plundering an eye-watering 31 goals during that impressive sequence.
Marco Silva’s men have proven dominant against the league’s lesser lights, yet the Whites haven’t been quite so consistent against top-half rivals, boasting only two home wins (W2-D2-L2).
Blackburn 7.6013/2 secured their first success in six last time out, ending a 541-minute goal drought in the process. Tony Mowbray’s men have managed just W2-D2-L4 across their past eight outings, failing to score on six occasions since mid-January. The visitors have returned a mediocre W3-D5-L6 when travelling to teams outside of the bottom-five this season.
Fulham’s fixtures feature the highest goals per-game average in the Championship this season with a lofty 3.3.36 goals. A massive 12/33 (36%) matches have produced four or more goals with 11 (61%) of 18 at Craven Cottage surpassing the traditional Over 2.5 Goals 1.758/11 barrier, suggesting a high-scoring showdown could be on the cards.
Yet Blackburn have found goalscoring tricky in recent weeks, notching only three goals in their past 10 league clashes. Yet Tony Mowbray’s troops have conceded just nine goals in 18 Championship matches since their humbling 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Fulham in the reverse – Rovers have silenced 11 of their most recent 18 opponents in that sample.
Under 2.5 Goals has been the right selection in 13 of Blackburn’s past 15 fixtures and with Fulham rarely running riot at Craven Cottage against the league’s elite, I’m happy to support a Fulham win and Under 3.5 Goals at 2.021/1 quotes on the Sportsbook.
Rovers have only twice shipped more than two goals in a game and can keep this contest competitive.
Mark’s 2021/22 Profit/Loss
Staked: 92 pts
Returned: 97.90 pts
P/L: +5.90 pts
Source: Betfair UK English Championship
